


gone in the end

by suddenlyatiger



Series: out of the blue [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Claudia Stilinski Is Not A Good Person, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Future Fic, Implied Relationships, M/M, Married Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-10-19 14:56:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 60,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17603477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suddenlyatiger/pseuds/suddenlyatiger
Summary: He agreed with Grady that Perry probably wouldn't be contacting them anytime soon. But that wasn't the kind of thing one said to a grieving child, Stiles knew that from experience.Not that his grief had been the same as Grady's was.This time, at least, Claudia wasn't pretending to be dead.(sequel to out of the blue)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally planning to just write little timestamps in this universe, but then I had a bunch of ideas and my brain just went 'y'know what? SEQUEL' because I am mildly insane, apparently.
> 
> With 'out of the blue' I managed to post a chapter every day, I probably won't be able to do the same thing this time, but I'll try my best to have some sort of consistent schedule.

_Grady was five years old when Claudia sat him down one day and told him he had an older brother._

_"His name is Stiles," Claudia said. Then she huffed. "Well, it's not really. That's more of a nickname because his real name is kind of hard to say, a bit like yours." Grady nodded, but the issue of names wasn't really important next to the fact that_ he had an older brother _!_

_"Where is he?" Grady asked as soon as Claudia took a pause. "Can I meet him? How older is he? Like Sammy's brother?"_

_"Slow down," Claudia said. "He lives in a place called Beacon Hills, close to where we're moving to next week. You can meet him once we're down there. And he's quite a bit older than you; about 15 years."_

_Grady's eyes and smile widened. Claudia honestly hadn't expected him to be that excited._

_"This is_ so _cool!" Grady exclaimed._

 

***

 

"So when are you going to take me to meet your parents?"

 

It's an innocent question. A normal question. A question that shouldn't make Grady's shoulders jam up around his ears every time he hears it.

 

And yet...

 

Grady looks over at Skye, sitting at the desk next to his, and tries very hard not to scream. She's staring at him with wide green eyes framed by long lashes. It's normally very easy for him to get lost in that gaze, but not when she brings up his parents. Which she's been doing a lot lately, and it's starting to make Grady very uncomfortable. And annoyed.

 

The classroom is quiet around them, aside from the clicking of multiple keyboards being typed on. Most of the other students have their heads bent over their laptops, working. The teacher is sitting in his desk at the front of the room, him and a student both frowning at a laptop sitting on the desk in front of them.

 

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Grady asks, sending Skye what he hopes is a pleading look.

 

"When are we gonna talk about this, Grady?" Skye asks. "We've been dating for two years and I've never met your family."

 

"You met my brother," Grady says.

 

"That doesn't count!" Skye exclaims. She's getting a bit too loud, as evidenced by the teacher looking over at the two of them.

 

"That doesn't sound like two students working over there," he says. Skye thins her lips and straightens out in her seat. Grady hunches over his laptop. The clock on the corner of his screen tells him that there's an hour until lunch time.

 

It looks like it's going to be a long day.

 

***

 

Grady and Skye's don't share the last class right before lunch, so it's easy to avoid her at first. He and his best friend Carson manage to duck into the nearest boys' bathroom before Skye has a chance to come looking for him.

 

"As much fun as it is in here," Carson says, wrinkling his nose at a wad of wet paper towel on the floor by his foot, "I'd much rather be in the cafeteria right now."

 

"I know," Grady says. "It's just... Skye is asking about meeting my parents again and I don't think I can talk about that right now without screaming in her face."

 

"Yeah, that doesn't seem conducive to a healthy relationship," Carson says. "Why don't you just tell her the truth? Then maybe she'll stop."

 

"She won't, you know she won't," Grady says. "It's going to be the whole 'why can't I come to the monthly family gathering' thing all over again." Carson 'hmms' thoughtfully.

 

"Yeah," he says. "She still hasn't forgiven me for all that, has she?"

 

"She has not," Grady confirms. Skye and Carson have never really gotten along, and it had only gotten worse once Skye found out how close Carson is to Grady's family compared to her.

 

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, dude," Carson says. "You already know my opinion on the whole situation. Either nut up and actually start telling her things – minus the whole you-know-what thing, of course – or really start thinking about why you don't want to tell her these things."

 

Grady grumbles half-heartedly, he knows Carson is right.

 

"Why don't you talk to your brother about it?" Carson asks as he starts pushing Grady out of the bathroom. "I think his brand of trust issues is the same as yours. He might be able to help."

 

"Maybe," Grady says. He allows Carson to drag him to the cafeteria, then pastes on a fake-feeling smile when he spots Skye sitting at their usual table.

 

"You know, you met my parents and grandparents the first year we dated," Skye says as soon as Grady sits down.

 

He sincerely regrets getting out of bed this morning.

 

***

 

_"Do you want to talk about it?" Stiles asked._

_Grady, face buried in his crossed arms, shook his head. The dejected slump of his shoulders and his hitching breath were enough to break Stiles' heart, and he was eternally grateful for Derek's silent support sitting in the chair next to him._

_The Stilinski-Hale kitchen was bright and cheery with sunlight, but it might as well have been grey and cloudy for all the misery happening at the kitchen table._

_"I tried to call your father," Stiles said. "He didn't answer but I left a message for him. He'll probably call at some point." He didn't tell Grady that the message contained a lot of shouting and swearing and that Derek had had to take over half-way through to get the actual message across._

_"He won't," Grady said, voice muffled and quiet enough that Stiles had to strain to hear it. Stiles bit down on the hollow reassurance that wanted to come out. He agreed with Grady that Perry probably wouldn't be contacting them anytime soon. But that wasn't the kind of thing one said to a grieving child, Stiles knew that from experience._

_Not that his grief had been the same as Grady's was._

_This time, at least, Claudia wasn't pretending to be dead._

_She was just gone._


	2. Chapter 2

"Tataaaaaaaaaaa."

 

Stiles turns away from where he's working on his laptop to focus on the tiny werewolf trying to crawl into his lap. Derek's kaleidoscopic eyes stare up at him from Adam's pouting face.

 

"Yes, sweetheart?" Stiles asks. He doesn't help the little boy up; Adam doesn't like it when can't do things himself. Stiles leans back in his chair and waits for Adam to get settled. The whine in the little boy's voice means that there's an important conversation to be had, Stiles' work can wait a few minutes.

 

"Can I be Spiderman for Halloween, please?" Adam asks. Stiles arches an eyebrow and reaches up to run a hand through Adam's dark hair.

 

"What happened to being a pirate?" He asks, though it's a half-hearted question at best. He can figure that the pirate idea had gone the same way as wanting to be Captain America, a werewolf, a policeman, a Pokémon trainer, and Mickey Mouse. This year is the first that Stiles and Derek are allowing Adam to pick his own Halloween costume and he seems a bit overwhelmed by all the options.

 

"Spiderman is better than a pirate," Adam says. "He can climb up walls and swing on webs and catch bad guys."

 

"You aren't going to be doing any of those things while you're trick-or-treating," Stiles says.

 

"Spiderman has cooler clothes than a pirate," Adam says.

 

"Right," Stiles says. "Well, when we go get you a costume next week we'll see what they have there. Maybe there'll be Spiderman." Or, which is looking more and more likely, maybe Adam will have changed his mind again by then.

 

Stiles' cell phone, sitting on the desk next to his laptop, starts ringing. The caller ID shows Grady's picture. Adam snatches the phone and has answered the call before Stiles can move. Stiles is both put out and impressed.

 

"Hi, Uncle Grady!" Adam shouts into the phone. "I'm gonna be Spiderman for Halloween!" Stiles can't hear Grady's response, but Adam's conversation with him only lasts for a few more 'uh-huhs' before he hands the phone to Stiles.

 

"It's for you," he says.

 

"Thanks, squirt," Stiles says. "Go and see what Daddy has to say about your Spiderman costume."

 

"Okay," Adam chirps. He leaps off Stiles' lap and pads off in search of Derek. Stiles checks that Adam hadn't accidentally ended the call before he puts the phone up to his ear.

 

"What's up, Grady?" he asks. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

 

"Hi, Stiles," Grady says. "I'm in the bathroom, and I have a problem."

 

"I'm... not sure if I'm qualified to help with that," Stiles says.

 

"What? No! The bathroom isn't the issue," Grady says. "I'm skipping class and hiding from my girlfriend."

 

"O... kay," Stiles says. "Did something happen with Skye?"

 

"Not really," Grady says. "Just more of the usual."

 

"Derek still isn't comfortable with having her over for the full moons," Stiles says.

 

"I know, I think she's let that go for now," Grady says. "She just... she keeps asking to meet my parents. She's been after me about it all this week and last week and I don't think she's gonna let it go this time."

 

"Oh, wow," Stiles says. "Yeah, I can see how that can be frustrating."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Have you... I mean, you could just tell her what's going on," Stiles says. "There's no shame in what your parents are like. Not for you, anyway."

 

"I know," Grady says. "But could you just imagine trying to explain that? 'Hey, Skye, I have no idea where my mother is, and I don't even know if I'd want to see her if I did, and you wouldn't believe the whole story behind _that_. And I barely interact with my father to the point where he might as well be gone too!' Did you know her parents are high school sweethearts and never even took a break from each other?"

 

"If she really cares about you she won't judge you for that," Stiles says. "A lot of kids don't experience the kind of family she has, and a lot never might. If you can't tell her the truth, I don't think it's your parents that're the real problem here."

 

"Hm," Grady grunts. "How did you tell Derek about everything? Like, he didn't know any of this going in, did he?" Stiles leans back in his chair and runs a hand down his face. Because, hoo boy.

 

"Well, mine and Derek's situation is a lot different from yours," Stiles says. "In a lot of ways, but majorly, I was 16 when I first met Derek. I still thought Claudia was dead at the time. I didn't tell him I thought she killed herself until after we started dating. And then when she came back, well, we'd already been together for years by then. He was actually with me the first time I saw her. I'm pretty sure we told you all this at some point."

 

"Yeah, you did," Grady says. "I know the story. But I just... you could talk to Derek about stuff like that? Even then?"

 

"Oh yeah," Stiles says. "But we'd been through a lot by then. Stuff that you and Skye haven't been through, and hopefully never will. He already knew Dad anyway, even before we even liked each other. Did I tell you about how Dad arrested him when we first met?"

 

"No? How have I not heard about this before now?" Grady asks.

 

"Remind me to tell you about it someday," Stiles says with a grin. "Anyway, my advice here is that you need to start trusting Skye with some of these things if you want your relationship to work. If you can't trust her with this, you need to figure out why that is and what you plan to do about it. If you want to be completely out there, though, you can just borrow my dad. He's pretty respectable."

 

"I'll keep that in mind," Grady says, with a huff that sounds like it could be a laugh. "I should probably go before I get in trouble for skipping."

 

"Yes, do that," Stiles says. "Have a good rest of the afternoon and we'll see you on Halloween."

 

"Thanks," Grady says. He ends the call and Stiles tosses his phone back on his desk. He contemplates his laptop for a minute, decides that work can wait a bit longer, and goes off in search of Derek. He finds him outside in the backyard with one toddler in his lap, another one hanging off his back, and Adam running circles around all of them.

 

Derek looks up when Stiles walks out and shoots him a beaming smile. Stiles jogs over flops down on the grass next to Derek. The toddler on Derek's back – Kevin – lets go and decides to flop down on Stiles' stomach instead. Stiles' breath leaves him in a 'whoosh' that makes Kevin laugh.

 

"We definitely have to stop feeding you so much," Stiles wheezes. Kevin giggles and tumbles off of Stiles to join his twin sister in Derek's lap. Derek squishes them together, making them both laugh, before turning back to Stiles.

 

"Adam said he was talking to Grady," he says. "Everything alright with him?"

 

"Oh, you know," Stiles says. "Girlfriend trouble."

 

"Again?" Derek asks.

 

"She wants to meet his parents," Stiles says.

 

"Ah," Derek says.

 

"Exactly," Stiles says. Adam suddenly decides that he's tired of running and flops down across Stiles' thighs. Stiles sits up and absently pats at Adam's back.

 

"I'm hungry," Adam says. "Is Uncle Grady gonna come over soon?"

 

"Uncle Grady is coming for Halloween," Stiles says. "Food I can do for you now, though. C'mon." He nudges Adam to his feet and then levers himself up with a groan. Derek pops to his feet with the twins in his arms – no creaky human joints for him – and leads the way back into the house.


	3. Chapter 3

"Remember back when you and Skye first started dating? And it wasn't entirely full of angst and ridiculous hiding in bathrooms?" Carson asks, crossing his arms and leaning up against the sinks. "That was nice. Can we go back to that?"

 

"Do you think she'd buy it if I tried to pass John off as my dad?" Grady asks. He's leaning up against one of the bathroom stalls, which is occupied.

 

"Can you two not have weird-ass dates in the bathroom where normal people come to shit?" Grady's friend Logan calls crossly from inside the stall.

 

"Look, you had the chance to go somewhere else when you first saw us in here," Grady says. "Don't complain about it now just because my problems are boring you."

 

"Dude, just let her meet your dad, or something," Logan says. "My parents are divorced, and it's not like I've never brought girls home to meet just my mother. Skye's cool, she'll be fine with it." Grady grunts and crosses his arms over his chest. He ignores the thoughtful look Carson sends him, turning his head away.

 

"Is there a reason you think she wouldn't be cool with it?" Carson asks.

 

And that's the thing, isn't it?

 

For as much as Grady cares about Skye, and for as much fun as he has with her (both in bed and out), there's just something about her that makes him wary. He can't really put his finger on it, but there's just something that tells him to be careful around her. Thinking that way makes him feel like an asshole, but he can't help it. It hadn't been that way when they'd first started dating, so Grady's not entirely sure whether it's her or him that has a problem.

 

"No," Grady says. "I don't know. What do you think?"

 

"I think I should start by pointing out that I don't really like her and therefore have a clear bias here," Carson says.

 

"Okay there, Professor," Logan snarks from inside the cubicle.

 

"Shut up and shit," Carson says. Logan laughs, then gives an over-exaggerated grunt. "You're disgusting. Anyway, Grady, you know Skye better than I do. And you know you better than I do. I think you not telling her the whole situation about your parents puts her in a weird position. But there has to be something there that makes you not want to tell her."

 

"There really isn't," Grady says. "It's just this feeling I have. Which is probably just anxiety, but still."

 

"Trust issues," Logan pipes up.

 

"I suppose," Grady says.

 

***

 

_"When's the last time Perry called?" Stiles asked._

 

_Derek paused for a second where he was climbing into bed. He frowned in thought._

 

_"Last week?" He offered. Stiles pulled the covers back on Derek's side of the bed to urge him forward. Derek climbed in, looking at the clock on the nightstand as he did so. 3:34AM. "I thought you went back to sleep?"_

 

_"I just had a thought," Stiles said. "It's only hitting me now about that fieldtrip Grady was talking about earlier."_

 

_"What about it?" Derek asked._

 

_"He said he was waiting for the teachers to pass out the permission slips," Stiles said. "Are we allowed to sign those?" Derek opened his mouth, but couldn't come up with an answer he could be sure was totally right. He crossed his arms over his bare chest and frowned._

 

_"Shit, I never even thought of that," he said. "I don't know. Did we make arrangements when we took Grady in? I know it all seemed super casual, but I mean, it isn't though."_

 

_"Oh Christ, this is a mess," Stiles said. "With everything going on with the baby and getting Grady settled I didn't even think of any legalities. It's a good thing he hasn't needed a doctor or the emergency room before now."_

 

_"Maybe your dad organized something," Derek said. "He's usually good for that, and it's kind of his job sometimes."_

 

_"Good point, I'll ask him." Derek reached an arm out to pull Stiles into his chest and away from the cell phone on the nightstand._

 

_"It's after three in the morning, do not call him right now," Derek said. "Go to sleep, this'll still be a problem in the morning."_

 

_And for many mornings to come, Derek was sure._

 

***

 

Grady waits in the Beacon Heights Academy parking lot, waiting for Skye to walk out. He's leaning against the hood of Skye's car and messing around on his phone. A few spaces down, Carson is sitting in Grady's car, waiting for a ride home.

 

It's a nice fall afternoon, mostly sunny and mild enough that Grady doesn't really need the hoodie he's wearing. Halloween is fast approaching, and Grady is looking forward to going trick-or-treating with the Hale pack children.

 

What he's not looking forward to is this conversation with Skye.

 

Grady's really not sure what's going on with them right now. Their relationship over the past two years had been mostly about fun and sex, with some brief snags that Grady assumes happens with all couples. Most of those snags have had to do with Grady's parents, and Grady not introducing them to Skye. She'd always been content to let it drop before when Grady shut her down over it, but something must have happened in the past few months because she's back on that issue with more fervour than ever before. And this time she's not letting up.

 

Grady sees Skye before she sees him. She exits the school flanked by her two best friends. The sunlight shines down on her red hair, giving it an almost gold shine. Her mouth opens in a wide smile at something one of her friends says, and her nose wrinkles cutely. She looks stunning.

 

She notices Grady waiting for her and waves at him. She gives each of her friends a peck on the cheek and jogs over to him.

 

"Hi!" She exclaims once she reaches him. She lets him wrap her up in a hug and press his lips to hers. Eventually she leans back. "Did you need a ride home?"

 

"Nah, my car's here," Grady says. "I just wanted to talk to you face-to-face as soon as I could."

 

"That sounds worrying," Skye says. Her smile dims a bit and Grady winces internally.

 

"It's nothing like that," he says. "It’s about my parents."

 

"Are you finally gonna introduce me to them properly?" Skye asks, arching a brow. "Because it really has been long enough. I think I've earned the right to at least meet them by now." Grady feels a flare of irritation and resists the urge to push Skye away. If they're actually going to work, he has to learn to talk with her about his family without shutting down.

 

"I'm not," Grady says. Skye's smile fades completely and she moves out of Grady's arms. "Look, the situation with my parents is weird as hell and I don't like to go into it. My mother doesn't live with us, and my father is more interested in being where she is than where I am. And that's all you really need to know. I have no problem introducing you to my brother and his family, who I'm _way_ closer to, and that's the best I can do. If you don't want that, I really don't know what to tell you."

 

"That's really not fair, Grady," Skye says. "I mean, you've met nearly my entire family."

 

"Yes," Grady says. "Because they're around and you're close to them. My parents aren't as nice and neat as yours are, and there's nothing I can do about that. My closest family is pretty much my brother and his people. And they're awesome." Skye is still frowning up at him, and Grady gets the feeling that he really isn't winning her over with this.

 

"Are these the same 'awesome' people who won't let me go with you to these once-a-month party things they have?" She asks.

 

"They are," Grady says. "The guest list to these things isn't up to me, I have no say in the matter. We've been over this."

 

"I'm your girlfriend, Grady," Skye says. "Or didn't you tell them that."

 

"They know who you are to me," Grady says. "They have their own reasons for who they decide can come to these."

 

"Carson gets to go," Skye says. Grady grits his teeth and says nothing. This will probably always be a sore spot in his and Skye's relationship: that Carson is closer to Grady's family than Skye is.

 

Carson and Skye don't really get along, Grady's not entirely sure why and he's always been too afraid to ask. On really bad days it almost feels like he needs to choose between them, and he doesn't want to have to do that.

 

Having friends and a girlfriend should not be this hard.

 

"Look, do you want to meet my brother or not?" Grady asks.

 

"I've already met your brother," Skye says.

 

"You know what I mean," Grady says. Skye narrows her eyes at him and Grady bites his tongue to keep from saying anything.

 

"I'll take it for now," Skye says. "But don't think we're through talking about this." She moves around Grady to get into her car, and Grady backs away. He watches as Skye gets in and starts the car, and then she drives away. Grady walks over to his own car and gets in behind the wheel. Carson looks up from his phone.

 

"How'd it go?" He asks.

 

"Remind me why I started dating her again?" Grady asks.

 

"Yikes."

 

***

 

_"Do you ever worry that you'll turn out like Mom someday?" Grady asked._

 

_Stiles looked up from where he was folding a pair of toddler-sized jeans at the kitchen table. He blinked at Grady, sitting hunched over in the opposite chair, in surprise._

 

_"Not really, not anymore," Stiles said. "What brought this on?"_

 

_"I broke up with Tamara," Grady grumped._

 

_"That sucks," Stiles said. "But I'm not really seeing the connection."_

 

_"We were together for almost a year, and it just feels kinda like I ran away the minute things got tough," Grady said. Stiles bit down on a smile. He wasn't sure what 'things getting tough' meant when you were 15. He was sure that if he were 15, or closer to that age, he'd have a better idea. Or maybe he would have a better idea if he'd been a normal teenager in the first place, or if he hadn't dived head-first into supernatural fuckery when he was 16._

 

_Now that he thought about it, Derek's teenage years probably weren't any more normal. They were both woefully out of their depths in helping to raise a teenager. They were gonna be in trouble when their kids got older._

 

_"Well," Stiles said. "I'm pretty sure that short relationships are more the standard for teenagers. I remember Scott and his first girlfriend; that relationship was quite a trip."_

 

_"How long was he with her?" Grady asked. Scott was married to Kira now, but Grady knew a little about his first girlfriend, Allison Argent. He didn't know a lot about her though, because no one really mentioned her much around him. Especially Stiles. He knew there was a story there, though he wasn't really sure if he'd ever get to hear it in full._

 

_"Welp," Stiles said. He dropped the folded jeans into the half-full basket at  his feet. "I think the first time they tried dating they were together for a few months. Then they weren't dating for a bit, and then they were for another few months before they ended it for good. Then Allison was with Isaac for a bit, and then Scott met Kira. Maybe they would've gotten together a third time, but, well..."_

 

_"She died," Grady said._

 

_"Yeah," Stiles said. He followed that up with the usual pause that came after mentions of Allison's death. It was these pauses that really made Grady wonder just what the story with that was. Stiles shook his head. "But maybe that wouldn't have worked out for them either at the time. Things around here were_ really _fucked up back then. He's happy now with Kira, so I'd say he's doing alright. But the main thing to remember is that sometimes teenage relationships are short."_

 

_"You and Derek started dating when you were a teenager, right?" Grady asked._

 

_"Yeah, but I was older and had already started college," Stiles said. "And by the time we started dating we'd already been through so much, both together and apart, that we'd already had the chance to build the kind of relationship most teenagers could never even conceive of. By the time we got together we both already knew that we were pretty much it for each other."_

 

_"So dating around as a teen is the standard, then?" Grady asked._

 

_"More or less," Stiles said. "I mean, make sure you're not an asshole about it, but it's alright to live a little. Just be careful. How're you and Tamara doing about breaking up?"_

 

_"I know I feel a lot better," Grady said. "We were starting to get pretty sick of each other by the end, I think."_

 

_"Hey, maybe you'll reconnect later, maybe not," Stiles said. "As long as neither of you faked your own death to get away then I think you're fine."_

 

_"Well, yeah," Grady said. "But I still don't feel right about it."_


	4. Chapter 4

Stiles, Derek, Firas, Eoin, and their small army of children rock up to the Beacon Heights Wal-Mart a few days before Halloween to finalize costume plans for the more indecisive among them.

 

Admittedly, it's not the best idea they've ever had.

 

"CANDY!" Emily and Ethan cry in unison as soon as the candy aisle, made even more colourful and enticing with the addition of all the Halloween candy on sale, comes into view. They run ahead; Aoife, Firas and Eoin's oldest, and Adam following closely.

 

"Guys!" Stiles whines half-heartedly. "Why?"

 

"I'm starting to feel like this was poorly managed," Derek says. He has his and Stiles' youngest twins, Lucy and Kevin, safely strapped into baby carriers on his front and back. Their tiny legs are kicking and they're both grumbling and growling about wanting to get down to join their siblings, but they have no real way to escape at the moment.

 

"We should've brought more adults," Eoin agrees, trying to keep Iain from leaping out of his arms.

 

"UNCLE GRADY!" A shout goes up from the candy aisle.

 

"Oh hey," Stiles says, speed walking over. "Next best thing." He turns into the aisle to find Grady and Carson being practically mobbed by children. There's another boy with them, Grady's other friend Logan, who isn't being approached by any of the children.

 

"I feel so unloved," he mock-laments once he spots Stiles. Then Emily breaks away from the main love-fest and gives Logan a quick hug, to his surprise and to Stiles' amusement, before turning back to Grady and Carson.

 

"Hey guys," Stiles says. "You know the good deals only start after Halloween, right?"

 

"Logan's mother sent him to replace the stuff they bought before that _someone_ , not naming names here, completely ate already," Grady says. "What's your excuse?"

 

"Adam needs to pick out his Halloween costume," Stiles says. "Aoife and Iain too."

 

"I'm gonna be a clown," Adam says, looking like he's trying to climb up Grady's leg.

 

"I'm gonna be Cap'tin America," Aoife says.

 

"Good decisions," Grady says. "Actually, it's great that you're here, Stiles. I need to ask you about something."

 

"Sure," Stiles says. "Step into my office." He gestures to the opening of the aisle with a wave of his hand.

 

"Your office is home, Tata," Emily says as Grady tries to extricate himself from the group of children.

 

"Ignore Tata, he's just being silly," Derek says. "Come on and look at the costumes, we aren't getting candy today."

 

"But whyyyyyyy?" Adam whines.

 

"You'll get candy in a few days on Halloween," Derek says. He and Firas round up all the kids and start leading them away. Carson and Logan share a look with Grady before turning their attention back to the nearest boxes of mini candy bars.

 

"I'll meet you over at the costumes after," Stiles says.

 

"Bye-bye, Tata!" Lucy calls as they walk away. Stiles waves until the entire group is out of sight, then he turns back to Grady. Grady motions for him to follow and leads him over into the next aisle.

 

"What's up?" Stiles asks. "Everything okay?"

 

"Oh, yeah, same as ever," Grady says. "I just wanted to talk to you about Skye."

 

"Derek still hasn't changed his mind about her coming over for full moons, if that's what you're gonna ask about," Stiles says. Grady and Skye have been dating since Grady was 16, so around two years or so. For about half of that time Skye has been angling for an invite to join the Hale – and McCall, on occasion – pack for full moon shenanigans. She's never really made an effort to get to know any of the pack members at any point, though, and so Derek had never really felt comfortable in letting Grady bring her along.

 

Sometimes Stiles thinks that it's weird that no one in the pack has much contact with Skye, and he and Derek often wonder who's doing it is; Skye's or Grady's. But no one ever really brings it up.

 

"No, I know," Grady says. "But I think I managed to reach a compromise with her on the 'meet the parents' thing. I was wondering if we could all get together for dinner, or something, somewhere. Me, Skye, you, Derek, the kids, John and Penny, whoever. Probably not at your place, but somewhere neutral where I can introduce Skye properly to everyone and then maybe she'll let this whole thing drop until I figure out something else."

 

"I'm not against that idea," Stiles says. "But can I just point out that this thing about Skye wanting to meet your parents and you constantly putting her off about it? That's been kind of a thing with you two for a while. Maybe you should really put some work into dealing with that head-on. Especially if you want this relationship to work." Grady crosses his arms over his chest and looks down.

 

"I know," he mutters. Stiles narrows his eyes at him.

 

"You do want this relationship to work, don't you?" He asks.

 

"Yes!" Grady exclaims. "Maybe? I dunno. I don't know what I want. Things were so fun and easy at first, and I liked being with her. I don't know when or why that changed."

 

"Speaking as someone who doesn't have the whole story," Stiles says. "It really sounds like the two of you aren't really seeing eye-to-eye on the seriousness of this relationship. Personally speaking, I don't think I could've had a serious relationship with Derek if he couldn't have his own relationships with the people closest to me."

 

"It's not that I don't want her to have relationships with people close to me, or that I'm not serious about her," Grady says. "It's just that she wants a relationship with _my parents_ , specifically, and, like, no one else. She doesn't ask much about you, and she doesn't get along with Carson. I think I've been able to ignore that kinda stuff so far, but she's really been pushing the parents thing lately."

 

"That really sounds like something you need to discuss with her, the sooner the better," Stiles says. "In the meantime, though, we can probably swing a dinner at my dad's place if you think she'd go for that."

 

"She better," Grady mutters. Stiles slings an arm over Grady's shoulders and ruffles his hair a bit.

 

"Let me know what happens with that either way," he says. "For now you can come watch the clusterfuck that is watching a small child be overwhelmed with costume choices." He starts leading Grady in the direction of the Halloween aisles, the sounds of whining and crying waiting for them in the distance.

 

***

 

Stiles waits until late evening, after all the kids are in bed, before he calls Dad.

 

"Why did we think it was a good idea to have five children?" Derek, sagging into one corner of the living room couch Stiles is sitting on, asks. He drops his feet into Stiles' lap and Stiles wraps a hand around one of his ankles.

 

"Because we are clearly insane," Stiles says, phone to his ear. "Father!" He exclaims when Dad answers. Stiles hears Derek chuckle lowly and sticks his tongue out at him. Like a mature adult.

 

"You're an adult with your own home and family," Dad says, "and yet you still sound like a guilty teenager whenever you say that. What did you do now?"

 

"Ouch, you wound me," Stiles says, smiling. "No I just have a question about something."

 

"Shoot," Dad says.

 

"Grady wants to do a 'meet the family' with his girlfriend," Stiles says. "We were wondering if we could do a dinner at your place? You and Penny, me and Derek and the kids."

 

"He's not doing that with his father?" Dad asks.

 

"Nope," Stiles says. "There's a whole thing going on there that I'm not getting into. He said he'd rather take her to meet us instead of his parents. Can't say I blame him."

 

"Fair enough," Dad says. "Is Perry even around these days?"

 

"I'm pretty sure he was at least at home last week," Stiles says. "Grady never really says anything about it one way or the other."

 

"Right," Dad says. "And no word from his mother, I suppose."

 

"He tells me even less about that," Stiles says. Dad hums.

 

"Makes sense," he says. "I'll run this by Pen and get back to you on when we can do this thing. Probably a bit after Halloween."

 

"Sounds great, thanks," Stiles says.

 

"So are you absolutely _sure_ you haven't done anything I need to be worried about lately?" Dad asks.

 

"Bye, Dad!" Stiles exclaims, and hangs up to the sound of his dad laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

Halloween is on a Friday this year, so Grady is missing a major party to go trick-or-treating with the Hale pack.

 

He's known this for weeks.

 

Skye has known this for weeks.

 

And yet...

 

"Are you sure you can't come by even for a little bit?" Skye asks. Grady resists the urge to slide underneath the cafeteria table and crawl away. He stabs at the macaroni salad he's eating for lunch.

 

"Yes, I'm sure," he says, not looking up. He'd been sure the first time he'd said it weeks ago, and he'd been sure when he'd reminded Skye every time she'd brought it up again since. He's definitely sure now that she's bringing it up again today, on the day itself.

 

"You'd really rather miss the biggest party of the year so far just to hang out with a bunch of kids?" Skye asks. Grady shoves a huge forkful of macaroni salad in his mouth to keep from answering right away. His first instinct is to tell Skye to fuck off and leave him alone. But he knows that wouldn't end well, for either of them.

 

Sitting directly across the table from Grady, Carson watches him with a worried frown. Grady ignores him.

 

"Look," Grady says, after finally swallowing his mouthful. "I go trick-or-treating with my brother's family every Halloween. Ever since I was, like, ten or eleven, or something."

 

"You know you don't have to, right?" Skye asks gently. "You're allowed to just go have fun."

 

"Trick-or-treating with them _is_ fun," Grady says flatly. "I go every year because I enjoy it and I get to spend time being part of a family without all the stress from my parents. I'm not passing that up to go to a party just so I can watch you get drunk and talk shit with your friends." A hurt look passes over Skye's face and Grady feels a brief pang of guilt. He doesn't like fighting with Skye, and he doesn't like hurting her. But it's almost like he can't help it; she's just been getting on his nerves so much lately.

 

Stiles is probably right that he really needs to have a talk with her about where their relationship is going. The sooner the better.

 

***

 

_Grady was cranky when his father dropped him off at John Stilinski's house._

_"Why can't I go trick-or-treating with you and Mom?" He whined._

_"Grady," Perry said on a sigh. "Me and Mom have other things we need to do tonight. There's nothing wrong with going out with Stiles and Derek and the twins. You'll have fun."_

_"I want to go with you and Mom!" Grady exclaimed. The door to John's house opened to reveal Stiles standing in the doorway, a baby perched on his hip. Perry felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. Stiles was better at dealing with Grady than he was. Perry's problem was, according to Claudine, that he gave in to Grady too easily. Enough whining and Perry would probably find himself heading back to Beacon Heights with Grady still in the car. And then it would be a miserable night all around because then Claudine would be annoyed with him and wouldn't go trick-or-treating with them anyway, because Grady would still want to go and Perry would be forced to take him._

_Perry just wanted a quiet night in with his wife where they could relax and enjoy each other's company. Perry remembered the first few Halloweens they had spent together, before Grady had come along and made the night more kid-centered: cuddled up to Claudine under a blanket and watching scary movies, sneaking in kisses and gropes in between trick-or-treaters ringing the doorbell. It sounded like heaven just then. Maybe he could have another night like that tonight. He just had to get Grady out of the car first._

_"Look, there's Stiles," Perry said, pointing out the window. "He's waiting for you. And I bet the babies are waiting too." Grady peered out the window and saw Stiles standing in the doorway. Stiles waved and Grady waved back. He was happy to see Stiles; Grady always enjoyed his time with Stiles and Derek, but he still wanted to go trick-or-treating with his parents. This year was the first time that he wouldn't be with them for Halloween._

_"But I want to go with you and Mom," Grady whined._

_"Grady, listen," Perry said, frustration adding an edge to his tone. "Me and Mom have other things to do tonight and we can't take you out trick-or-treating. You're going to go with Stiles and Derek. You're already here."_

_"But we can go back home," Grady said._

_"No," Perry said. "Now come on, Stiles is waiting for you." Stiles was still standing in the open doorway, though he was no longer holding a baby. Grady gave his father one last pleading look, but Perry only raised his eyebrows at him. Heaving an only slightly exaggerated dejected sigh, Grady got out of the car. He was barely a few steps away when Perry suddenly drove off._

_Grady stood in the driveway and watched the car until it drove out of sight._

 

***

 

Grady gets a text from Skye just as he's pulling up to Stiles and Derek's house in the woods. It's not like they're insanely far in, but he's still sometimes surprised how good the cell service is out here.

 

Though now he's mostly annoyed by it because it means that he has no problem getting annoying texts from his girlfriend.

 

**From: Skye**

**wish u were here**

 

There's a picture attached, but Grady ignores it. He gets out of the car and jogs up to the house's front door. Derek opens the door for him before he even has the chance to knock.

 

"Just in time," Derek says with a grin. "The kids were starting to get antsy."

 

"Is that Grady?" Stiles' voice calls from deeper in the house.

 

"UNCLE GRADY!" A child's voice shouts. The floor seems to rumble at the pounding of several pairs of feet. Children suddenly come running from all directions, mobbing Grady at the front door. If Grady ever starts feeling bad about himself all he has to do is show up at some sort of pack gathering; all the Hale pack kids love him for some reason.

 

"Hey guys," Grady says. "Cool costumes."

 

"Who are you s'posed to be?" Emily, the tallest child in the crowd, asks as she gives Grady a once-over.

 

"Oh," Grady says. He whips a pair of plastic fangs from his jacket pocket and slips them in his mouth. "Vampire."

 

"That's lame, Uncle Grady," Emily says, frowning.

 

"Mine are better!" Ethan announces. He opens his mouth wide and lets his wolf fangs drop. That starts a whole thing of all the werewolf kids dropping fang and grinning like particularly vicious loons. One kid loses control and slips into a full Beta-shift, which starts to set the others off.

 

"Oops," Grady says. He catches Derek's eye and Derek shrugs his shoulders.

 

"Okay!" Derek announces. "Everyone needs to calm down if we want to go out soon." He doesn't shout, doesn't have to. In fact, he barely even raises his voice. There are moments, like this, when Grady can feel an undercurrent of power in Derek's voice that gets people to listen to him without him having to yell and carry on. Stiles calls it his 'Alpha voice'. It's very effective and the kids all quiet down in a matter of seconds.

 

"Time to go?" Adults start appearing on the scene, handing out plastic pails and flashlights. The older children are easy to keep in line, but the toddlers are more difficult to wrangle. Grady isn't surprised when he's handed a random toddler to get ready. Eventually everyone is suited up, appropriately lighted, and marched out the door.

 

There's a large van parked at the edge of what's considered the house parking lot. Some of the adults head for it with the smaller children and babies. Derek, Cora, Isaac, Parrish, and Firas lead the older kids to the path leading to town.

 

"I wanna walk too!" One of the younger kids, a small red-haired girl in a puffy princess dress, starts crying as she's led over to the van. "Daddyyyyyyyy!" Parrish breaks away from the walking group and jogs over to the crying child and the woman leading her. Grady gets distracted from the drama by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He's still holding the toddler someone had handed him earlier, Firas and Eoin's youngest, so it's a bit of a juggling act to get the phone out.

 

There's another text from Skye. Grady puts the phone away without reading it. He must be making some sort of face because Stiles arches an eyebrow at him when Grady hands the toddler to him.

 

"Iain giving you trouble?" Stiles asks.

 

"What?" Grady asks. "No, no. Just... Skye keeps texting me."

 

"You know, if you'd rather be with her tonight we won't hold it against you," Stiles says. He passes Iain off to someone in the van.

 

"I'd rather be here," Grady says. "She just won't leave me alone." Stiles grins and claps a hand on Grady's shoulder.

 

"You really need to get a move on and talk to her," he says. "Properly. Ignoring her like this isn't going to solve anything."

 

"Ugh," Grady groans. Stiles laughs at him and herds him into the van.

 

***

 

John Stilinski is the kind of father Grady wishes he could have.

 

"Hello everyone! I hope I won't have to arrest any of you later." The sheriff station is as busy as it usually is on Halloween night, and the whole Hale pack descending on them probably doesn't help any. Some of the deputies sitting at their desks seem somewhat happy to see them, anyway. John, standing in his open office doorway decked out in his full sheriff's uniform, rattles his handcuffs at the children nearest him. The kids shriek with laughter, one of them lets out a tiny growl. Adam, who is one of John's actual grandchildren, attaches himself to John's leg and gazes up at the man adoringly.

 

Grady hangs back with some of the other pack adults to watch the show. He knows it's a risk to go out in public with this many children who sometimes don't have complete control over their supernatural abilities or brain-to-mouth filters, but it's always a fun event to visit John at the station on Halloween.

 

Events like these are both precious and sobering for Grady. Whenever he spends time with Stiles and his family, it always serves to remind Grady of how lacking his own family is.

 

Eventually John starts in on his usual speech about Halloween and trick-or-treating safety, which is then followed by handing out candy. Some of the adults get the kids sorted into a line and start leading them around to the occupied desks, where the deputies have some candy to hand out. His official duties done for the moment, John wanders over to where Grady is standing with Stiles and Lydia and hands out some full-sized chocolate bars.

 

Stiles gets an apple.

 

It's a scene that plays out every year, but never fails to make Grady laugh.

 

He feels his phone buzz in his pocket again. This time he ignores it as Emily and Ethan suddenly pop up to grab his hands and lead him out of the station to begin trick-or-treating proper. He grins around his plastic fangs as he lets the children drag him down the sidewalk.

 

***

 

_"Grady, did you get these handcuffs from your policeman grandpa?" Grady swatted at Logan's hand as the other boy reached for the pair of handcuffs dangling from Grady's belt. They were the only authentic piece of equipment on his cop costume, which made him a bit of a hit among his friends._

_"What? No. I borrowed them off Stiles," Grady said. "I don't have a policeman grandpa. I don't have any grandpa."_

_"Don't you?" Carson asked. "The sheriff in Beacon Hills? Isn't he your grandpa?"_

_"No, he's Stiles' dad," Grady said. "He's Emily and Ethan's grandpa."_

_"If he's not your grandpa, why do you go visit him so much?" Logan asked._

_"I go see him when I visit Stiles and Derek," Grady said. "He's kinda like an extra dad."_

_"So if you didn't get those from your extra policeman dad," Logan said, "are they even real?"_

_"Yup," Grady said proudly. He unhooked them from his belt, a fake plastic utility belt that came with the costume, and twirled them around one finger by the chain. "Real policeman handcuffs. Stiles told me not to ask him where he got them."_

_"Stiles isn't your dad, right?" Logan asked._

_"No, he's my brother," Grady said._

_"Wait, wait," Logan said. "You said the sheriff in Beacon Hills isn't your grandpa. He's Stiles' dad and Stiles is your brother, so doesn't that make him your dad too?"_

_"No, I know Grady's dad, he's not a cop," Carson said._

_"Me 'n' Stiles have different dads," Grady said. "Same mom. No grandparents." He didn't say that he wished that he and Stiles had the same dad, and that that dad should be John Stilinski. Grady hadn't seen his own father in a few weeks, not since he left to go find Grady's mother._

_But he wasn't going to let that get him down today. Not on Halloween. He'd already spent the past few Halloweens without his parents, technically there wasn't anything different about this Halloween. As long as he ignored the fact that he didn't know where his parents were and that he was actually living with Stiles and Derek this year._

_That was fine, though._

_He guessed._

 

***

 

It isn't excessively late by the time Grady makes it back home in Beacon Heights; trick-or-treating with small children is far from an all-night affair.

 

There's still more than enough time to see if he can track down Logan and Carson to see what they're up to. If he's lucky, he'll catch them both at loose ends and up for a few hours of drinking and horror movies.

 

There's a strange car in the driveway when Grady gets home. He eyes it then decides to park his own car on the side of the road. His father's car is also in the driveway, which is a bit of a surprise, but doesn't raise any alarms. It just means that he might have to make some sort small talk to keep up the illusion that his father is making an effort to actually parent him properly.

 

Grady starts thinking that he might've been better off staying in Beacon Hills for the night.

 

He jogs up the driveway and lets himself into the house. There are lights on in the living room and kitchen, and he finds his father sitting at the kitchen table. Dad has his face in his hands, but looks up when Grady walks into the kitchen.

 

"Wasn't expecting you back this week," Grady says.

 

"I texted you earlier," Dad says. "You didn't answer."

 

"No, I was out with the Hales," Grady says. He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check it. There are some missed texts from Skye, some Facebook notifications, and one missed text from his father. "Did you need something?"

 

"Sit down," Dad says, waving to the empty chair on the other side of the kitchen table. "I need to talk to you about something."


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles' caller ID says that he's getting a call from Chris Argent.

 

He side-eyes the phone but still answers. Calls from Chris are rarely good news, but it's usually news worth having.

 

At least it's a call he's getting at a reasonable time in the day – early afternoon – and not some ungodly morning hour. That usually means that nothing too terrible is happening; not right away, anyway.

 

"Chris," Stiles says when he accepts the call. "Business or danger?"

 

"It's unfourtunately looking like a little bit of the second one this time," Chris says. "Though nothing too pressing. Yet."

 

"Oh great," Stiles says. "Hold on, lemme get Derek." He walks over to the door of his home office and pokes his head out in the hallway. The rest of the house is quiet. Emily and Ethan are in school, Lucy and Kevin are taking their usual early afternoon nap, and Adam is watching a movie in the living room with Derek. Stiles hates to interrupt their quiet bonding time, but needs must.

 

Stiles pads down the stairs and enters the living room, which takes up most of the space on the first floor. Derek and Adam are cuddled together on the couch watching an animated Spider-Man movie, identical sets of hazel eyes glued to the screen. Stiles clears his throat and both sets of eyes turn immediately towards him. Stiles holds the phone up.

 

"Sorry to interrupt, but I have to borrow Daddy for a second," he says.

 

"Aw." Adam pouts, scrunching up the slightly upturned nose he inherited from Stiles. "But the good part is coming up!"

 

"Yeah, Tata," Derek says with a grin. "The good part is coming up."

 

"I hate to ruin a good time," Stiles says. "But Mr Argent has some news we need to hear." Instantly the teasing smile melts off Derek's face. Life in Beacon Hills is so much more peaceful these days, but it's moments like these that remind Stiles just how precarious that peace can be.

 

"Sorry, munchkin, duty calls," Derek says. He pauses the movie and drops a kiss to Adam's head as he rises from the couch. "Wait here and I'll be back soon."

 

"Ugh," Adam says. "Fine. But I won't be happy about it!" He flops down on his back on the couch and throws an arm over his eyes as dramatically as only a five-year-old can.

 

"I hope you know he gets that from you," Derek says, walking past Stiles and leading the way into the kitchen. Stiles would rather they head back to his office, but he knows from experience that it's better not to give Adam too much space when he's alone.

 

"Hey, at least one of them had to be able to live up to my dramatics," Stiles says. "Anyway, Chris, are you still there?"

 

"Still here," Chris says. "Not that the domesticity isn't cute, but I don't have a lot of time here." Stiles and Derek sit down at the kitchen table, Stiles with the phone pressed to his ear and Derek listening in from the next chair over. One of the perks of werewolf hearing: not having to crowd around the phone, or put calls on speaker to be easier overheard by tiny ears.

 

"Go ahead," Derek says. "We're listening."

 

"There is a possible rogue Alpha wolf heading in your direction," Chris says.

 

"Oh great," Stiles says. "Who? And why?" Random lone-weres heading for and through Beacon Hills aren't completely unheard of events these days. Most of the time they're Betas or Omegas looking to just pass through or find new packs to join. Every once in a while one of them wants to cause trouble, but it's never anything that can't be handled by either the Hale or Ito packs.

 

Rogue Alphas are a whole other level of complication that no one needs.

 

"I don't know a lot, everything I'm hearing is second- or third-hand information so I don't know how accurate any of it is," Chris says. "But the things that seem the most factual point to there being a rogue Alpha on the move in your direction."

 

"So, no name?" Derek asks.

 

"Lucian Peters is the name I keep hearing," Chris says. Stiles freezes and shares a concerned look with Derek. Lucian Peters is a name they haven't heard in years, though he wasn't an Alpha last they heard. He'd been one of the main players in kicking off the huge blow-out that had happened nearly 15 years earlier. The one that Scott hadn't properly dealt with, which just made everything that much worse.

 

"Shit," Stiles says. Derek says nothing, just glares stonily down at the table. "Are you sure?"

 

"Like I said: mostly second- and third-hand information," Chris says. "But from what I do actually know about the whole situation as a whole, Lucian Peters is your worst-case scenario."

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "Thanks. I'll let Satomi and Scott know. Call us if you hear about anything else."

 

"Will do," Chris says. He hangs up. Stiles places the phone face-down on the table in front of him and runs his hands down his face.

 

"Well, this is just what we need, isn't it?" He asks.

 

"We'll deal with it," Derek says. "Fuck, we really should've kept better tabs on him after everything that went down."

 

"I know," Stiles says. "We really dropped the ball there. But there was just so much other shit to deal with then. You were an Alpha again, we had new pack members to settle in, new treaties to organize and whatnot."

 

"And then a bunch of you were dealing with university," Derek adds. "Then of course your mother showed up. Really, Scott should've been the one to keep track of what was going on with everyone then since most of it was his fault."

 

"It probably didn't even occur to him," Stiles says. Stiles has long-since stopped trying to defend Scott when it comes to things like this; especially if it's anything related to the big mess he caused years earlier. Scott has improved so much as an Alpha since those days, enough so that he and his pack – located close to San Francisco – live in relative safety and seem to be thriving. Stiles talks to him on the phone at least once a week, and they see each other at least every other month. Scott and Derek still don't get along, though, and only really put up with each other when they have to for pack business and Stiles.

 

"I should go see Satomi about this," Derek says. He starts to get up from the table.

 

"I'll call her," Stiles says. "Go finish your movie first. Let the kids enjoy the rest of the afternoon before this whole clusterfuck starts and we'll all be busy." They both get up from the table and Derek wraps Stiles up in a tight hug before they both go their separate ways.

 

***

 

Stiles spends the rest of the afternoon and early evening on the phone with various people.

 

First he calls Satomi so that she can put her pack on alert. Her pack is mostly in charge of Beacon Heights and other surrounding areas in that direction so Stiles asks her if she can maybe keep an eye out for Grady.

 

Next, Stiles calls his father at the station. He, Parrish, Michel, and Helena – all the Hale pack members that are on the force – will keep an eye out for any odd police reports that might give them an idea of if and where Lucian Peters is causing trouble, and what direction he's heading in. Stiles already gets texts back only 15 minutes after the phone call that just lowers his hopes that this situation will resolve itself easily and neatly.

 

Then Stiles calls Scott, which Derek joins him for as a witness though he doesn't actually contribute to the conversation.

 

"Don't worry so much about it," is the first thing Scott says. "Between all the packs in the area I'm sure someone will be able to intercept him and talk him down." This makes a low dangerous growl sound from Derek's chest, and has Stiles thankful that the McCall pack is only one of several packs in the San Francisco area and that Scott isn't really in charge of actually protecting territory like the Hale and Ito packs are.

 

"Scott, I'm pretty sure this situation is way more serious than that," Stiles says. "Talking him down isn't gonna cut it. At worst, he needs to be _taken_ down. Sooner rather than later, before the carnage really starts."

 

"You know that's not how we do things here, Stiles," Scott says. Stiles wants to rage into the phone, but he knows that won't solve anything. He really can't understand why, with everything that they've all seen and experienced, Scott still thinks like this; like everything can be solved with calm conversation and second chances.

 

Derek speaks for the first time after Stiles ends the call. "I'm going to contact some of the other local Alphas."

 

"That's a good idea," Stiles says. Stiles keeps contact information for other packs by his office computer, so Derek uses his landline to make calls. Stiles leaves him to it and uses his cellphone to call Grady.

 

There's no answer so he just sends a text.


	7. Chapter 7

"Not that I don't enjoy having you here," Carson says, looming over where Grady's stretched out in his bed, "but I think my mom is starting to get a bit suspicious and is about yay close to going to your father for explanations."

 

Grady rolls over onto his front with a groan. "No," he says.

 

"Seriously, dude," Carson huffs. "What's going on?"

 

"You really wanna go there?" Grady asks.

 

"You've taken over my bed for the past two days," Carson says. "I kinda have to go there. Also you need a shower."

 

"Ouch," Grady says, muffled by Carson's pillow.

 

"Did something happen with Skye?" Carsons asks. He climbs over Grady and lies down on the empty side of the bed, by the wall. Grady turns to face him.

 

"I wish," Grady says. "That would probably be easier to handle."

 

"Nothing happened to the pack?" Carson asks.

 

"No," Grady says. "My mom's back."

 

"Shit."

 

And, somehow, that's not even the worst of it; but he doesn't tell Carson that.

 

***

 

_Grady was supposed to be doing homework, and Derek had heard him quietly working on it for the past hour or so. But he wasn't being quiet anymore._

_Both Stiles and Derek could hear him stomping around in his bedroom at the Stilinski-Hale house. There was a sudden crash and Stiles winced. Emily and Ethan, playing with blocks on the floor in front of the couch, both looked up at the ceiling._

_"Sounded like the bookshelf falling over," Derek said._

_"Should we go up there?" Stiles asked. He made to get up, shifting his grip on Adam in preparation to hand him over to Derek._

_"I think so," Derek said. "Maybe just to see if he's ready to talk." He accepted Adam's sleeping body and Stiles got to his feet. "I'll stay down here with the kids."_

_Stiles nodded and started for the stairs._

_The stomping and pounding noises got louder as he neared Grady's bedroom; the room designated for him ever since he first started staying over with Stiles and Derek. Stiles approached the door and knocked on it. All noise from inside ceased._

_"Grady?" Stiles asked. "Can I come in?"_

_"I guess," Grady answered after a few moments of silence. "It's your house." Stiles slowly turned the knob and eased the door open. The first thing he focused on was the overturned bookshelf since it was lying in front of the door and had to be pushed out of the way. The rest of the room was a mess; the bed was torn apart and there were books all over the floor. Grady's schoolbag was lying empty and deflated on a pile of books and papers, and some of the posters had been ripped from the walls and were lying in pieces scattered all over. Grady was standing in the middle of it all, red-faced and breathing hard._

_"Well," Stiles said, not entirely sure what to say. "You've been... busy?"_

_"If that's what you wanna call it," Grady said._

_"So what's all this about then?" Stiles asked. "I don't remember much about being 13, but I do know that I never completely trashed my bedroom."_

_"Mom called," Grady said. Stiles thought he felt his heart stop for a second. His relationship with Claudia was pretty much non-existent by now, and he had no real interest in repairing it in any form, but that still didn't stop him having reactions to any mentions of her. Especially when she was emotionally torturing his little brother. This phone call was the first time Grady had heard from her since she left over a year ago._

_"Really," Stiles said. He picked his way over the floor to Grady's desk, which seemed to have escaped the boy's wrath, and sat down in the computer chair. "What did she have to say?"_

_"Not a whole lot," Grady said. "She just asked me how I was doing and how school was, and then she asked to talk to Dad. She hung up when I told her that I was here and not home."_

_"She didn't say what she was doing or... y'know, if she's coming back?" Stiles asked. Grady shook his head. He shuffled over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bare mattress. He rubbed at his eyes with closed fists and Stiles' heart went out to him. He moved from the chair to the bed and put his arm around Grady's shoulders. Grady resisted for a second but then leaned into Stiles' side with his head on Stiles' shoulder. Grady was a tall kid and almost the same height as Stiles, which Stiles was still getting used to._

_"Was it easier?" He asked, then licked his dry lips. "For you? When you thought she was dead?" Stiles sucked in a sharp breath and held it. Grady winced and almost immediately regretted asking, but he didn't take back the question. Stiles' jaw worked for a bit and he licked his lips a few times before answering._

_"I think, it was hard in a different way," he said. "She was gone and I missed her, but there wasn't this back-and-forth business about whether or not she would be coming back. It was different in that I knew she was gone and that she wasn't staying away on purpose... y'know, I thought." Grady nodded against Stiles' shoulder._

_"If she actually does come back," Grady said, "I think I'd be too worried about her leaving again to really be happy about it."_

***

 

One shower and side-eye from Carson's mother later, Grady is back in Carson's bed. He's staring up at the ceiling and fiddling with his phone, which has one missed call and one unopened text from Stiles. There are also a few unopened texts and missed calls from Skye, that he is actively ignoring.

 

"You have to tell him," Carson says. Carson is sitting at his computer desk bent over a textbook and laptop; he doesn't turn to look at Grady. "I think he has to hear it from you before he finds out some other way."

 

"I know," Grady says. "I just really don't want to have this conversation. Like, ever."

 

"Is this the same or different than the conversations you don't want to have with Skye?" Carson asks. "I'm starting to think this is a pattern with you."

 

"Shut up," Grady mumbles. The phone rings in his hand and he almost throws it off the bed in surprise. Carson turns in his chair at the sound.

 

"Is that Stiles?" He asks. "Because that would be amazing timing." The caller ID says it's Skye. Grady groans and shows Carson the phone screen.

 

"I cannot deal with this right now," he says. The ringing goes on for a minute before stopping. All is quiet for a few seconds and then it starts up again. It's Skye calling back.

 

"Looks like she really wants to talk to you, dude," Carson says. Grady sighs hard through his nose and finally answers the phone. Carson turns back to face his desk, giving the illusion of privacy but clearly listening in.

 

"Hi, Skye," Grady says.

 

"Grady! Finally!" Skye exclaims. "I've been trying to get you all weekend. You never answered any of my texts."

 

"I've been busy," Grady says. He's been having a bit of a mental crisis, but Skye really doesn't need to know that. "What's up?"

 

"I need to talk to you," Skye says. "In person. It's serious." Grady massages his forehead with his free hand. He's not sure he can handle another serious conversation right now.

 

"Can it wait?" He asks. "I've kinda got... stuff... happening right now."

 

"No," Skye says. "This is important. I'll meet you at your place in a few minutes."

 

"No!" Grady exclaims. He cannot have Skye at his house right now. Not with his mother there. Not with what's happening right now. "Meet me at the Starbucks."

 

"Grady, what's going on?" Skye asks. "Where are you?"

 

"Just come to the Starbucks," Grady says. There's a moment of silence before Skye hangs up the call. Grady lets his phone drop to the bed and presses the heels of both hands into his eyes.

 

"Fuuuuuck," he moans.

 

"Are you gonna be okay?" Carson asks, turning slightly in his chair.

 

"No," Grady says. "Might as well get this over with now."

 

"What are you gonna tell her?" Carson asks.

 

"No idea," Grady says. "But this is probably gonna end up with me single again. I can't deal with Skye and my mother at the same time. No way."

 

"Good luck, dude," Carson says. "Should I have alcohol on standby?"

 

"Yes. A lot." Grady rolls off the bed and leaves the room.

 

***

 

Skye is already at Starbucks when Grady arrives and parks his car in the parking lot. She's sitting on a bench outside the shop, a drink in one hand and her phone in the other. She doesn't notice Grady, which gives him a few seconds to just observe her.

 

She's smiling softly down at her phone, looking cute and approachable. Her red hair is gleaming in the sun and it mesmerizes Grady just as much now as it had when they'd first started going out.

 

He really wishes he felt the same about her now as he had then, back when their relationship wasn't such a chore. He feels terrible for thinking that way, but it is what it is.

 

Grady gets out of his car and walks over to Skye's bench. She looks up and sees him when he's halfway there. The smile slips from her face and Grady finds himself missing it.

 

"Hi," Grady says. He stops by the bench and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. There's more than enough space for him to sit down next to her, but he doesn't make any move to. Skye frowns up at him.

 

"Hi," she says. "You never answered any of my texts."

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "It's been a weird weekend. You wanted to talk to me?"

 

"What's going on with you?" Skye asks.

 

"Don't worry about it," Grady says. "It's... it's not... Just don't worry about it."

 

"Well, if you talk like that then I'm going to worry about it," Skye says. Grady shakes his head. "Did something happen on Halloween? With your brother?"

 

"My brother's fine." For now, anyway. "What did you want to talk about?" Skye looks up at him, her green eyes wide and serious. A pit starts forming in Grady's stomach and he knows that things are about to get even worse. There's something coming that he's going to have to deal with on top of everything else, and he deeply regrets answering Skye's call earlier.

 

"Maybe you should sit down," Skye says.

 

"No," Grady says. He's prepared to make a quick getaway. His hands in his pockets clench into fists as he braces himself for whatever Skye is about to tell him. He's really hoping that his mother's reappearance has just got him really wired and oversensitive, and that he's overreacting to whatever is happening right now. Maybe Skye called him here to break up with him, which probably wouldn't suck as much as he thinks it should.

 

Skye sets her phone down in her lap and takes a sip of her drink, still not taking her eyes off Grady.

 

"I'm pregnant," she says, finally. "It's yours, of course, and we need to talk about what we're going to do."

 

Grady feels like screaming.


	8. Chapter 8

 Stiles is a bit concerned when Sunday rolls around and he still hasn't heard from Grady.

 

He sends another text that afternoon, and then when that goes unanswered, he calls. Grady doesn't pick up.

 

Stiles goes so far as to call Perry, who he proceeds to have a very short and very weird conversation with. The only thing of substance he gets from that is that Grady has apparently spent the entire weekend, starting Halloween night, at Carson's house.

 

"They're probably just goofing off and playing video games or something," Perry says. "Anyway, I have to go. I'll tell him to call you next time I see him." He hangs up before Stiles can say anything else.

 

***

 

"There must be something going on at home again," Derek says later, when Stiles tells him about the call. They're in the middle of trying to get the twins to bed, and Derek has Kevin tucked up against his shoulder and is rubbing his back in an effort to get him to settle quicker.

 

"I hope so," Stiles says, standing in the doorway of Kevin and Lucy's nursery and watching the proceedings. "Which sounds horrible, but that's better than the alternative of him being in danger." Reports from various sources have so far confirmed that Chris' rogue alpha is indeed Lucian Peters and he is definitely making his way to Beacon Hills. The destruction he's leaving in his wake isn't as devastating as Stiles would expect, but that doesn't make him feel any better about the situation.

 

"Yeah," Derek says. "Hey! No!" Lucy is trying to climb out of her crib and freezes at the sound of Derek's admonishment, one little leg up in the air against the railings.

 

"I want down!" She exclaims.

 

"No," Derek says. "It's bed time."

 

"Down!"

 

"Down!" Kevin echoes, his little head popping up from Derek's shoulder.

 

"Sleep," Derek gently pushes Kevin's head back down and starts pacing. Sometimes this works. Lucy growls and starts to climb the crib railing again. Stiles jogs over and swoops her into his arms. Lucy giggles as Stiles pops her onto his hip. Then she rests her head on his shoulder, mirroring Kevin and Derek's position, and nuzzles into his neck. Stiles drops a kiss on her head.

 

"Might be time for a you-know-what," Stiles says to Derek. "If she's going to be this enthusiastic about the climbing."

 

"She'll be fine," Derek says. "The first time she falls and hurts herself she'll learn not to do it again. She'll heal fairly quick. That's how I learned." He'd said the same things when Emily, Ethan, and Adam had started getting a bit too big for their cribs, though none of them had ever felt the inclination to climb out of them so Stiles had never had to worry much about it. But now there's Lucy, who seems to enjoy testing her parents' anxieties over nearly everything.

 

"She'll be fine," Stiles says. "But Kevin won't. And you know that if she does something, he'll want to do it to."

 

"That's true." Out of the five Stilinski-Hale children, Kevin is the only human. After three werewolf children, suddenly having to take care of a human child had been quite the learning curve. Human children don't bounce the same way werewolf children do, as Stiles is often pointing out. "You-know-whats for them both, then."

 

"Then we'll finally be done with the cribs," Stiles says. "For good this time." Both Stiles and Derek had truly meant for Adam to be their last child. They'd lucked out with Cora and Kendra helping them conceive the older twins, and then gotten really lucky when Stiles' stepmother just so happened to turn out to be a witch who knew a few things about reproduction magic. They'd had three wonderful children, along with Grady a lot of the time, and hadn't wanted to tempt fate by trying for more.

 

And then Lucy and Kevin had fallen into their laps. Two infants, barely older than newborns, whose pack hadn't been willing to keep them because of mixed breeding, so they'd been turned over to the supernatural rehoming system that Stiles and a few pack members had helped start up. Their placement in the Stilinski-Hale home had been meant to be temporary, but Stiles and Derek had bonded with them and that had been that.

 

Now Stiles' two youngest children are growing up in front of his very eyes and it looks like he'll finally be able to purge his home of baby paraphernalia once and for all. He's sure he'll cry about it later. In private. Without Derek smirking at him like he's doing right now.

 

"I mean it," Stiles says. Derek just shakes his head and looks down at the little boy in his arms.

 

"This one's asleep," he says. A quick glance at Lucy shows that she's also asleep. It's a delicate dance to get the twins into their cribs without waking them, but they manage it and then tiptoe out of the nursery as quietly as they can. They check on the other kids, all asleep, before heading downstairs.

 

"Should I call him again, do you think?" Stiles asks, mind jumping immediately back to his original problem now that the children are all settled.

 

"Try Carson first," Derek says. "Perry said they've been together all weekend." Stiles pulls his phone out of his pocket as he follows Derek into the living room. He calls Carson, who doesn't pick up.

 

"What are the chances they're both in trouble?" He asks. A text from Carson comes in before Derek has a chance to answer.

 

**From: Carson**

**grady indisposed**

 

"Well," Stiles says.

 

**From: Carson**

**totally not dead, mildly drunk maybe**

**From: Carson**

**oh shit don’t tell him I told you**

 

Stiles shows the texts to Derek, who huffs out a laugh.

 

"Indisposed," Derek chuckles. "I'd say they're probably fine."

 

***

 

Both Stiles and Derek's phones go off at about three in the morning, blaring the emergency ringtone into the quiet room. They're both awake in an instant and reaching for their phones.

 

Nothing good comes from 3AM phone calls.

 

"What happened?" Stiles barks, voice scratchy with sleep. Derek sounds no better on his phone but he's already climbing out of bed.

 

"Stiles?"

 

"Grady? What's wrong?" Stiles' legs are still half-asleep and he almost face-plants out of bed. "Where are you?"

 

"Something happened," Grady says. His voice is thick with tears, and Stiles' stomach drops. His mind runs through all the horrible possibilities that could befall a drunk teenager out with friends, especially while there's a rogue Alpha on the loose.

 

Stiles doesn't know what it says about him that he's praying for a drunk driving fender bender. A quick glance over at Derek, who has his own phone pressed to his ear and is looking at Stiles through glowing red eyes, lets Stiles know that whatever's happened is much more serious.

 

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Stiles demands into the phone.

 

"I don't know!" Grady exclaims. "Stiles! There was a huge _fucking werewolf_ and- and- and-"

 

"Grady, breathe!"

 

"Carson got _fucked up_ and I don't know where he is! They won't tell me anything!"

 

"Who's they? Who are you with?" There's an inarticulate shout somewhere in the background and then the call ends. Stiles is left gripping his phone, heart pounding in his chest and his lungs struggling for air.

 

"Come on." Derek is suddenly there and taking the phone from him. "Get dressed, grab the kids. We need to go."

 

He's not even using his Alpha voice, but Stiles immediately kicks into motion.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 "That's mad fucked up, dude," Logan says, squinting at Grady in the dark. "But she's serious about this?"

 

"Seemed like it to me," Grady says. He shines his phone screen at the bottle in his hand, trying to make out the label. "Am I going blind?"

 

"It's dark as fuck out here," Carson says. "And you're drunk as fuck. Use the flashlight on your phone, it's brighter."

 

"I'm not drunk," Grady protests. He tries to flip his phone around with one hand and just ends up dropping it. On his face. Because he's lying down. Right. "Gravity," he huffs, "is a bitch."

 

"So's your girlfriend," Logan says. "And now she's having your baby."

 

"Don't call her that," Grady says. "She's not a bitch. She's just... annoying."

 

"I thought we agreed we weren't gonna talk about all that," Carson pipes up. "Tonight is just for drinking."

 

"One last night of partying before Grady has to straighten up and be a _daddy_ ," Logan says, laughing loudly.

 

"You suck," Grady mumbles. He clutches his bottle to his chest and turns over on his side, curling in on himself. He pouts, wishing he had better friends. A hand gently starts carding through his hair.

 

"Sorry," Carson says. "We won't bring it up again. Will we?" Never mind, Carson can stay.

 

"Yeah, yeah," Logan says, placatingly.

 

Grady is pretty sloshed right now, so he doesn't really pay much attention to the ambient forest noises around until they start getting really loud. Even then it's Carson, who is definitely the most sober of the three of them, who brings it up.

 

"Am I the only one who hears the sound of something crashing around?" He asks. Grady turns over onto his back and looks up. He can barely see Carson in the very little amount of light the moon throws out, only the outline of his face as he looks out into the trees that surround the clearing they're in.

 

"It's probably a deer or something," Logan says. "We have those here, I'm pretty sure."

 

"Sounds like a huge fucking deer," Carson says. He easily gets to his feet, which just proves that he's definitely not been drinking as much as Grady, and takes a few steps towards the trees.

 

"Don't get too close," Grady calls. "I don't wanna explain your parents that you got mauled by a deer."

 

"Deers don't maul people," Logan says. "They're vegan or some shit."

 

"Seriously, though, that can't be a deer," Carson says.

 

"What else would it be?" Logan asks.

 

A very loud and angry-sounding roar is the only response he gets.

 

***

 

_"So, listen," Stiles said. "There's no real way I can start this that won't sound hella creepy. So I'm just gonna go for it."_

_"Alright," Grady said._

_"Seriously, though," Stiles said. "Not trying to be creepy."_

_"I believe you," Grady said. Grady, Stiles, and Derek were sitting around the kitchen table at John's house. John was in the living room entertaining the twins with Penny, who John swore up and down that he was absolutely not interested in getting to know better ("The liar." Stiles always muttered to whoever was closest whenever John insisted.)_

_"Should I just go ahead and tell him while you're busy trying to not be creepy?" Derek asked, smirking._

_"No, shh," Stiles said. "Anyway, Grady, I need to tell you a secret. And it's something you can't tell anyone else about. Not even your parents."_

_"Okay," Grady said._

_"This isn't something I want to encourage, y'know, keeping secrets," Stiles said. "You're still young and any adult asking you to keep a secret, especially from your parents, is basically bad news and if that ever happens you should go find a different adult to talk to so that you can stay safe and-"_

_"Stiles." Derek reached out and gripped the back of Stiles' neck. Stiles went silent almost immediately and blinked slowly at Grady. "Breathe."_

_"Stiles," Grady said. "I'm 12. I know how stranger danger and dangerous secrets work. They teach us that in school now."_

_"Oh," Stiles said. "That's handy. Okay, now that that's sorted, down to business. This is serious, serious stuff here, Grady. Like, life or death serious." Grady sat up straighter in his chair and put his hands on the table, trying to look as adult and trustworthy as possible._

_"You can trust me," he said._

_"I know," Stiles said. "So I really mean it when I say you can't tell anyone about this. There are people who know the secret, and I'll tell you who they are so you can talk freely with them. But other than those people, you can't tell anyone. That includes your parents and best friends."_

_"Even Carson?" Grady asked._

_"Even Carson, sorry," Stiles said. Stiles knew that Carson was Grady's best friend in the whole world, had been ever since Grady started elementary school in Beacon Heights. There was a little while, maybe a year or so ago, when Stiles thought that they might've been heading in a bit of a 'maybe more than friends' direction, or whatever that's called with kids, but something had changed there and Grady refused to talk about it._

_"Maybe one day you'll be able to tell Carson," Derek said. "But not right now. This secret is a serious responsibility, and we don't really want to put that on a kid if we don't have to. We don't want to have to put this responsibility on you, either, but you're part of our family, so you need to know."_

_"I'll protect this secret with my life," Grady said._

_"Let's hope it won't come to that," Derek said._

_"Right," Stiles said. "So, what do you know about werewolves?"_

 

***

 

Grady is about _thisclose_ to completely losing his shit right now.

 

He doesn't know where Carson is, Logan is almost catatonic, he's surrounded by unfamiliar werewolves who don't look too happy, and there's blood everywhere. He's pretty sure he's actually safe and that Stiles and Derek will be contacted at some point, but that's little comfort to him right now with adrenaline surging through him and every muscle in his body primed to flee.

 

There's also a dead body just a bit off to Grady's right, but he can't think about that right now. Can't even look at it, otherwise he thinks he might start screaming and never stop.

 

When Carson and Logan had led him out into the woods with their booze stash earlier that evening, Grady had thought that his life couldn't possibly get any worse.

 

Of course.

 

***

 

"GRADY!"

 

Grady, sitting wrapped in a blanket on a cushy sofa in some stranger's living room (the Ito pack has a lot of Betas; Grady doesn't know them all), looks up from his study of his knees when he hears the shout. He knows it's Stiles, but he can't make himself get up. Logan is sitting on the couch next to him, also wrapped in a blanket, with his face in his hands. He's been like that ever since they were first led to the couch. Neither of them know where Carson is.

 

Crashing and stumbling sounds precede Stiles into the living room. He suddenly appears in the doorway dressed in a baggy hoodie and pyjama pants, hair sticking up in every direction, and eyes wide and worried. He rushes over to the couch and hovers over Grady, patting at his head and shoulders with shaking hands. Grady wants to reassure him that he's fine, but he can't make himself open his mouth, afraid that he'll just start screaming and yelling.

 

"Good, good, you're alive," Stiles mumbles absently. "Derek, he's alive!" Grady blinks and then Derek is suddenly at his side, looking over the scene with worried eyes. One of the Ito Betas is standing a few feet away, hanging back a bit. Stiles plants himself on the couch between Grady and Logan and then starts fussing over the two of them. Logan finally looks up when Stiles places a hand on his shoulder, looking about as wrecked as Grady feels.

 

"I don't even know what just happened," he says, voice breathy.

 

"You're alright now, that's the main thing," Stiles says, squeezing Logan's shoulder. "You're both in one piece and you're safe now."

 

"What about Carson?" Logan asks. Grady sucks in a breath and holds it. Everything had happened so fast out in the woods, he's still not totally sure of all the details. The one thing that really stands out in his mostly fuzzy memories is Carson's terrified face as a hairy, red-eyed monster clamped his jaws down on one of Carson's arms.

 

Stiles and Derek share a look that does nothing to lessen Grady's fear.

 

"He's alive," is all Derek says.

 

***

 

The sun comes up. Grady doesn’t move from his spot on the couch. Stiles is still sitting next to him, pressed up against Grady's side. Logan, on Stiles' other side, has somehow managed to fall asleep, his head perched on Stiles' shoulder. Derek is no longer there, but Grady can hear his voice coming from another room talking with members of the Ito pack. Satomi Ito herself is there, so Grady knows that whatever just went down is very serious.

 

A muffled buzzing noise suddenly comes from the kangaroo pocket of Stiles' hoodie and Stiles reaches in and pulls out his phone. He answers right away.

 

"Hey, Dad," he says. A pause. "No, he's fine. The situation's mostly been taken care of."

 

A few beats of silence.

 

"We'll be home sometime today," Stiles says. "We're just tying up loose ends right now. No danger, you can tell the troops to stand down for now." Stiles offers a few more platitudes and instructions before he hangs up. Grady doesn't think about how his own father hasn't tried to contact him all weekend. Not that Grady really expected him to. Not usually, and especially not now.

 

"What's going to happen?" Grady asks in a raspy voice. It's the first time he's spoken since he phoned Stiles after the attack. Stiles presses his phone to his mouth and doesn't look at him.

 

"Well," he says. "Soon, Derek and I are going to take you and your friends back to Beacon Hills with us. There's going to be some more supernatural red tape to go through, but you'll all be better off with the pack for now. You won't have to deal with any of the official stuff. Frankly this shouldn't even have happened."

 

"I'm sorry," Grady says. "Usually getting drunk in the woods goes well enough for us."

 

"That's not what I meant, not that I would have a leg to stand on if I did," Stiles says with a small smile. "No, I meant that the Alpha should've been dealt with way before he got this far. Though I would like to know just what you boys were doing all night in the woods."

 

"That's... We need to have a conversation. Later," Grady says. "Is Carson gonna be alright?"

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "Eventually."

 

"The bite of an Alpha werewolf," Grady says. "That'll turn him, right? Like what happened to your friend when you were in high school." Grady does not know Scott McCall well, having spent very little time around the man. He does know that he and Stiles had been best friends when they were younger, though they're not as close now. He's heard the story about how Derek's uncle Peter, an Alpha at the time, came across Scott in the woods one night and bit him, eventually turning him into his Beta. He doesn't know the whole story, he's sure he just has the cliff-notes version. "What is it with crazy Alphas running around forests at night?"

 

Stiles huffs out a laugh. "I know, right? But, yeah, Carson's turning. That'll be quite the event, I'm sure. But we'll take him home and look after him. He'll be fine. We'll get him settled first and then figure out where to go from there."

 

"What about Logan?" Grady asks. Stiles turns his head to where Logan is drooling a wet patch on his shoulder.

 

"I know a good therapist," Stiles says.

 

***

 

Carson looks almost completely fine when Grady finally sees him again, out by Derek and Stiles' mini-van. Grady's not sure whether he more wants to punch him, or wrap himself around him and never let go.

 

It's possible the trauma and lack of sleep are making him a bit loopy.

 

"You look like hell," Carson says.

 

"If I wasn't so happy to see you alive, I'd kill you myself," Grady says. Then he sways and face-plants into Carson's chest.

 

He sleeps the entire way to Beacon Hills.

 

***

 

_"So, werewolves," Carson said. He hid behind Grady as Derek waded forward through the crowd and pulled apart the two fighting Betas, one from the Ito pack and one from the McCall pack. Somehow, Grady didn't think that that was what Stiles had meant when he said that everyone would be on their best behaviour._

_"Werewolves," Grady answered. Grady had met the McCall Beta before, but he didn't know him well. He did know that he had a short fuse, though, which made this sudden skirmish a bit surprising but not totally unexpected. Though for Carson the whole thing came totally out of left field. Especially when the claws and fangs came out._

_"Scott!" Derek shouted at the assembled crowd. "Come here and deal with this."_

_"Jesus, Derek, relax," Scott said, breaking away from the crowd in front of the Hale house and walking over to where Derek was holding back his Beta, who was still struggling to get away. The Ito Beta was standing off to the side and glaring around. Grady and Carson watched the whole proceedings with wide eyes. Grady was let in on the supernatural secret not long ago, but he'd never seen an actual fight before. Carson was completely new to all this._

_Both boys jumped in surprise when Stiles appeared almost out of nowhere and dropped an arm around each of their shoulders._

_"Boys," he said. "You should come in for now."_

_"What's going on?" Carson asked. "They're werewolves, right? How are they werewolves?"_

_"I'll explain everything inside," Stiles said. He exchanged a look with Derek, who nodded, before leading the two boys into the house._


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles stands in Grady's bedroom doorway feeling like shit and nursing a cup of coffee. Derek is stuck to his back, his arms around Stiles' waist, silently watching the bedroom.

 

There are three teenage boys fast asleep in Grady's bed: Logan spread-eagle over most of the bed, and Grady and Carson squished together against the wall. The Hale-Stilinski children are all downstairs being looked after by various pack members, it's a rotating list as people have been coming and going from the house all morning.

 

Lucian Peters is dead, Grady and his friends are alive, some of the Ito pack Betas are injured - some seriously, but healing - and no one is dead, but Stiles knows that this all could've gone so much worse. Of course, there's also the complication of the Ito Beta that killed Peters becoming an Alpha, but he's trying not to think of that right now. It's Satomi's problem, and Stiles is only too happy to let her deal with it.

 

"I should've tried harder to get a hold of him," Stiles says. "I should've just driven up to Beacon Heights myself when he didn't answer my texts or calls. Stupid."

 

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Derek says. "I really don’t think Peters was specifically targeting them, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if you'd warned him, it might not have changed anything." Stiles thinks back to himself as a teenager; dragging his best friend into the woods to look for a dead body and only finding trouble.

 

"What were they doing, getting drunk in the forest at that time of night? Morning?" Stiles asks. "That's alcohol poisoning waiting to happen, I'm sure."

 

"We'll get a full story out of them later," Derek says. "Let's leave them sleep. Speaking of, maybe you should go back to bed for a bit too." He detaches from Stiles and starts leading him by the hand away from Grady's bedroom and towards theirs.

 

"Nope," Stiles says, tugging Derek in the direction of the stairs to the living room. "Too much to do. I still have to call Carson and Logan's parents and explain what's happening. I'm sure the school's called them by now to say that they aren't there. I'd like to get ahead of any potential kidnapping accusations."

 

"Melissa should be here soon," Derek says. "You should call Logan's mother, I'll deal with Carson's parents. They're gonna be in for a much bigger shock."

 

"Oh fuck, yeah," Stiles says. "It's all yours, buddy." They meet Isaac, coming up from the basement, just before they hit the living room.

 

"Everything's all set downstairs," Isaac says. "How's he doing?" He nods up in the general direction of the upstairs bedrooms.

 

"Still asleep," Derek says. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We have enough time before the full moon that we can prepare him a bit."

 

"How're we gonna do the full moon next month?" Isaac asks. "I thought Scott's pack was thinking of coming down for it?"

 

"Oh fuck," Stiles says, running a hand over his face. "I still have to call Scott about this. Fuck."

 

"Tata! Are you saying bad words?" Adam shouts from the living room. It's quickly followed by several chuckles and giggles. Little werewolf ears; somehow Stiles keeps forgetting (he blames Emily and Ethan for not calling him out as often).

 

"Tata is a grownup and can use bad words," Stiles says, walking into the living room. "That's my reward for having to do grownup things." Adam is sitting in the middle of the floor with an iPad on his lap, he's watching Stiles as he walks in, his face scrunched up. Stiles just knows that he wants to let loose a 'That's not fair!' whine, but the logic is sound and he can't do a thing about it.

 

"What?" Peter Hale, who Stiles hadn't known was in his house and sitting on his couch until now, asks. "Doing grownup things isn't its own reward?" He waggles his eyebrows at Stiles and Derek, making them both frown.

 

"Who let you in?" Stiles asks.

 

"He came with me," Melissa McCall says, coming forward to give Stiles a hug.

 

"I meant the country." Melissa hides a smile by pressing a kiss to Stiles' head. Then she turns to Derek, suddenly all business.

 

"What do you need me to do?" She asks. Having been through something similar with Scott, she's really the only one they know who is equipped to have any sort of conversation with Carson's mother.

 

"I was thinking about going to Carson's house to talk to his parents in person," Derek says. "We'll take Carson with us as proof of life. We'll be meeting up with a Beta from the Ito pack as well. No matter which pack Carson decides to stay in, the Ito pack is in charge of protecting Beacon Heights, so Carson's parents will have to have some contact with them."

 

"I thought Carson would be joining our pack," Stiles says. "If he separates himself from Grady, I'll be very surprised."

 

"So will I," Derek says. "But the possibility is there, and he has to formally state his intentions to the Ito pack anyway. Also there's a new Alpha now, one who'll need a pack. He'll probably want to try to recruit Carson. Along with anyone else Peters managed to turn recently."

 

"Is he ready to go now?" Melissa asks.

 

"He's still sleeping," Derek says. "We'll get moving as soon as he wakes up."

 

***

 

The boys nap for another hour before they're awakened by Lucy and Kevin whining and crying as Stiles and Derek try to put them down for a nap. Grady, looking like he needs to sleep for another year at least, pokes his head out into the hallway when Stiles is on his way back downstairs.

 

"What's happening?" Grady asks with a yawn.

 

"Nap time," Stiles says. "How're you feeling?"

 

"Like shit," Grady says. "We should probably talk though. Some stuff happened."

 

"I gathered," Stiles says. "Meet me downstairs when you're ready. Tell Carson and Logan to get ready to head out. Derek and Melissa will take them home and explain things to their parents."

 

"Explain what?" Carson appears from behind Grady, rubbing at his eyes with closed fists.

 

"What happens now," Stiles says. "You're turning. And I know for a fact that the whole process is easier when you don't have to hide anything from your parents. Also your mother sounded very angry when we called her earlier so we'd like to set things straight right away so that she doesn't think that you've suddenly joined a cult."

 

"Oh god," Carson mutters.

 

"Get yourselves in order and come downstairs," Stiles says. "Fair warning though: these next few days will be rough."

 

"I'll say," Grady mutters, and backs up into the room.

 

***

 

"So, here's how we'll do this. I'll give you the bad news, then the shit news, then the even worse news."

 

"You really know how to reassure a guy."

 

Stiles and Grady are sitting on the loveseat in Stiles' home office, which is one of the few soundproofed rooms in the house. Derek and Melissa are on their way to Beacon Heights with Carson and Logan, and Stiles is hoping that their forthcoming meetings won't turn into a total shit show. The rest of the pack members are either out helping to deal with the Lucian Peters affair, or downstairs with all the kids.

 

Stiles had led Grady up to his office as soon as he was sure everything else was sorted for the time being. Grady had stuffed himself into one corner of the love seat upon entering the room, and then stared at Stiles until he'd taken a seat next to him. Grady is pale and tired-looking, and doesn't seem to be looking forward to this conversation at all if his gloomy expression is anything to go by.

 

"Yeah, well," Grady says. "There's no reassurances here. Just a whole mountain of bad."

 

"And this is bad without the sudden werewolf attack?" Stiles asks. "Speaking of, will this explain what you were all doing getting drunk in the middle of the woods?"

 

"Carson and Logan took me out to get drunk to get my mind off of things for a while," Grady says. "Skye told me that she's pregnant, like, earlier that afternoon." Stiles sucks in a sharp breath.

 

"Well," he says. "That's... Hmm."

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "So now she says that I have to bring her home to my parents. And she wants to get married."

 

"I... oh boy," Stiles says. "Well. First of all, you're not marrying her. That's just a disaster waiting to happen."

 

"But-"

 

"But nothing, no marriage," Stiles says. He leans back in the loveseat and runs a hand through his hair. So, this certainly isn't _ideal_ , but it's not the end of the world. They can work with this. Grady and Skye absolutely cannot get married, though. Not with the way things between them are now. That's just going to make a difficult situation much, _much_ worse. And that's even without considering the supernatural aspect of things. "We'll figure something out about custody and money and whatever later. But you tell her you're not marrying her. Not now."

 

"We're 18," Grady mumbles. "Technically it doesn't matter what you say about it."

 

"Do you want to marry her?" Stiles asks, arching an eyebrow.

 

"Before she said anything I wasn't even sure if I wanted to keep dating her," Grady says.

 

"Exactly," Stiles says. "Nix the marriage plans for now. We'll come back to this later. So what else do you have that could be even worse than that?"

 

"Mom's back," Grady says immediately.

 

"That'll do it," Stiles says. "Did you find this out before or after Skye?"

 

"Before," Grady says. "When I got back home on Halloween. First thing Dad told me when I got in." He has both hands clutched together in his lap and is staring off into the middle distance. Stiles watches him carefully, tamping down his own reaction for now.

 

"Did she say anything?" Stiles asks. "How long she'll be back. Why she came back? Anything?"

 

"I didn't see her," Grady says. "Once Dad was finished telling me everything, I just ran. Went to Carson's and stayed there all weekend. Until the woods. I haven't been back home."

 

"Christ," Stiles says. "And is this the shit news, or the even worse news?"

 

"That's the shit news," Grady says. "The even worse news is that..." He breaks off suddenly and turns his head away, but not before Stiles sees his eyes starting to shine with tears. He scoots over until he can get an arm around Grady's shoulders. Grady instantly curls into the offered comfort, but doesn't look up.

 

"She's sick," Grady says. "Really sick. Terminal cancer, Dad said. She's dying, Stiles."

 

"Oh," Stiles says, breathy. He tightens his grip on Grady. He's gonna need some time to process this. "So, um, that's bad."

 

"Y'know what?" Grady asks, with a watery laugh that sets Stiles' hair on end. "I don't even know if it's bad or not."

 

Stiles shuts his eyes against a sudden sting, and holds tight to his little brother.


	11. Chapter 11

Carson doesn't come back to the Hale house until late evening, after dinner. Grady hadn't been sure that he would be coming back at all, so he's caught off-guard when Carson walks into his bedroom.

 

"You're back!" Grady exclaims.

 

"Clearly," Carson says. He crosses over to the bed and nudges at Grady until Grady gets the hint and moves over enough to give Carson the space to lie down. Carson lets himself flop down on the bed and buries his face in Grady's extra pillow. Grady curls up on his side facing him.

 

"So how'd it go?" He asks.

 

"Eh," Carson says, turning his head to uncover his mouth. "Better than I thought it would. Less shouting. Mom only threatened to call the police on Derek once before Melissa set her straight. Someone from the Ito pack is staying with them tonight, I think, to make sure they're doing okay with the whole werewolf reveal."

 

"That's good," Grady says. "I told Stiles about Skye and Mom."

 

"How'd that go?"

 

"He's dealing. Derek's back, right? Stiles'll be fine now."

 

"How are you doing?" Grady closes his eyes.

 

"Same as ever," he says. "What about you? What's it like being a werewolf all of a sudden?"

 

"Nothing too exciting yet," Carson says. "Derek said that it'll take a day or so for things to really get going. Something about my senses getting stronger. The healing kicked in right away, though. All the injuries from last night are already gone." Grady opens his eyes and reaches out to run his fingers over Carson's left arm, where the Alpha had dug his fangs in. He pushes up Carson's t-shirt sleeve to reveal pale, intact skin.

 

Carson is obviously fine now, but that still doesn't erase the memory of mutilated flesh and gushing blood shining in the moonlight. Grady isn't aware that he's shaking until Carson pulls him into his arms and holds on tight.

 

"I'm fine," Carson says. "We're fine."

 

***

 

Grady wakes up in the morning overheated and sweaty where Carson is wrapped around him, and with two pairs of tiny dark eyes staring at him.

 

"What?" He croaks out. Then Lucy and Kevin start cackling and run out of the room, startling Carson awake in the process.

 

"Oh god what's going on?" Carson asks. "Wow, everything is really loud." He squints his eyes, as if he has a headache, as he looks around the room. Then he sniffs cautiously. "Has your room always smelled like this?"

 

"Do me a favour and don't think too much about it," Grady says. "Also you are very hot right now, like, fever-type hot."

 

"I feel fine," Carson says, frowning. "I can hear people downstairs perfectly and it's starting to freak me out a bit."

 

"Anything interesting?" Grady asks. Carson cocks his head and closes his eyes.

 

"Stiles says to get downstairs if we want to eat breakfast," he says.

 

"Awesome," Grady says, although he'd really rather stay in bed. "What time is it?" He leans over Carson and grabs his phone from the nightstand. His phone tells him that it's nine o'clock in the morning, and that he's missed several calls and texts from Skye. He leaves his phone on the nightstand before going downstairs.

 

Stiles is standing at the stove in the kitchen, he turns to look at Grady and Carson when they walk in.

 

"Pancakes?" He asks. His eyes are a bit red and have dark bags under them, and his face seems paler than usual. Grady feels a pang of sadness, then one of anger, though he's not quite sure who he's angry at.

 

"Yes please," Carson says. He sits down at the kitchen table, Grady slumps down in the chair next to him. The house sounds quiet; all Grady can hear is a TV on in the living room and random noises of children at play. Nothing like the bustle of activity from the day before.

 

"Where is everyone?" Grady asks.

 

"Derek's up in the office," Stiles says, pouring pancake batter into a frying pan. "Adam and the baby twins are in the living room, Emily and Ethan already left for school. Everyone else is out on clean up duty, hiding bodies and doing damage control." Grady has a brief memory flash of the night of the attack; a mangled and bloody body lying motionless on the forest floor. Blood everywhere, werewolves growling, someone screaming. He shivers and Carson shoots him a look before scooting his chair closer.

 

"So are we out of danger now?" Grady asks.

 

"More or less," Stiles says. "You guys were lucky that night. If Satomi hadn't had her pack out doing regular patrols... Anyway, everyone's fine-ish. Alive, anyway, except for Peters, but fuck him. Now it's just time for clean-up."

 

"What's clean-up mean?" Carson asks.

 

"Nothing you have to worry about," Stiles says. He brings two plates of pancakes to the table and places them down in front of Grady and Carson before sitting in the chair next to Grady's. "Chris Argent and his hunting network are working together with the Ito pack to get everything sorted out. So we'll just leave all that to them. Right now you, Carson, have to focus on you."

 

"What does _that_ mean?" Carson asks.

 

"It means that you have to learn how to werewolf," Stiles says. "You need to learn how to be in control of your shift and your senses, and how to function within a pack. You also need to learn about the dangers that are out there for a werewolf. Derek, me, and the rest of the pack will help you. Derek especially, because he's your Alpha, but really any one of us can help. Whatever works for you."

 

"This is gonna be a whole thing, isn't it?" Carson asks, frowning down at his pancakes.

 

"Yep," Stiles says. "Lucky for you, though, we've some experience with this kind of thing. You'll be fine."

 

***

 

_"So your friend turned into a werewolf in high school, right?" Grady asked. Stiles looked at Grady, who didn't look away from the game of Mario Kart they were playing in Stiles and Derek's living room._

_"Yeeeaaaah," Stiles said. "What about it?"_

_"I was just wondering," Grady said. "So your best friend turned into a werewolf, and then you ended up marrying a werewolf, and all your kids are werewolves. How come you never turned into a werewolf?"_

_"I never wanted to," Stiles said. Of course, there was a longer and more in depth answer, but that would do for now. After a minute of silence he paused the game. "Why, do you want to get the bite?" Grady didn't take his eyes off the TV screen, even though nothing was happening._

_"I just... think it'd be cool," he said. "There's special powers and stuff, and running on the full moons. And..." He trailed off and Stiles had to nudge him to get him to start talking again._

_"And?" He prompted._

_"And if I turned into a werewolf I could be part of the pack and then I could be in your family for real," Grady said in a rush. Stiles felt his heart break a little. He wanted to kick himself. One of the main problems in the situation surrounding Grady's custody was that there was no certainty with anything. Stiles and Derek didn't have any sort of legal custody of Grady, not really, just some basic rights that allowed them to look after him whenever Perry deemed it convenient for himself._

_Maybe Stiles or Derek, or both of them, should've sat Grady down at some point and explained things to him. He was smart, he'd probably understand most of it. Stiles had to do the best he could on his own at the moment._

_"Grady, listen," he said. He reached out to Grady and physically turned him so that they were both facing each other. "If you really want to have the bite, Derek will sit down with you and explain all the risks and side effects and whatever, and you can make the choice from there. But don't think that it's something you have to do to be a part of this family. You don't have to do anything, you're already family. You've been family since we first met. You're stuck with us now, kid, no matter what."_

 

***

 

Derek drives Carson and Grady to Beacon Heights before school. They'll both be staying at the Hale house for the next little while and they need their school things and clothes. Grady goes in with Carson to help him pack while Derek heads over to Grady's house for his things. Grady hasn't been home since Halloween; he has no plans to return any time soon. Not while his mother is still there.

 

Carson's mother lets them into the house and follows them to Carson's room.

 

"Make sure you have all your school stuff," she says, standing in the doorway while they pack. "And make sure that whatever room they give you there, you keep it clean. And me and your father expect to see you around here at least once a week." She watches the boys pack, frowning the whole time. They eventually leave with two duffel bags and Carson's school bag and head out to walk over to Grady's house, Carson giving his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek as he leaves.

 

"It's not forever," Carson says. "And you know we'll still see each other. I'll only be in Beacon Hills. Pretend I've gone off to college early." Grady watches the interaction with something like envy settling in his gut. The last time he'd seen his own mother, back when she'd left for good, there had been no goodbye. She'd said she'd be out shopping and just never came back.

 

The walk to Grady's house is silent, with Grady trudging down the sidewalk and Carson constantly looking around as if seeing the world around him for the first time.

 

Derek and Perry are waiting outside by Grady's car, which is still parked on the side of the road where Grady had left it Halloween night, when Grady and Carson make it to the house.

 

"Got everything?" Derek asks. Grady and Carson hold up the duffel bags and Derek nods at his mini-van. "Put them in." They do as they're told, dropping them on the middle seat next to what must be Grady's things. Perry is standing on the front lawn, very obviously apart from Derek, and watching the proceedings with his hands in his pockets. He's pale and unshaven and looks like he hasn’t slept in days. Grady isn't interested in dealing with him right now.

 

"Alright then?" Perry asks when he catches Grady watching him. "You don’t want to come inside, or..."

 

"I gotta get to school," Grady says.

 

"I'm sure your mother would like to see you," Perry says. Grady feels a wave of frustration crash over him.

 

"I've been here the whole time," he snaps. "If she wanted to see me so bad she should've come around before."

 

"Grady," Perry says.

 

"I'm going to school," Grady says. "I'll see you later, Derek."

 

Derek nods at him. "Call if there are any issues." He watches as Grady and Carson climb into the car and drive off.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is the last chapter I had already written in advance, I'll try not to let the updates slow down after this

Stiles is sinking into the living room couch under the weight of three small children when Derek walks in. Derek drops a small pile of duffel bags by the front door and comes over to the couch to sit next to Stiles. Lucy crawls into his lap as soon as he's settled.

 

"How was it?" Stiles asks.

 

"No one got mauled, I count that as a win," Derek says. "Had a short chat with Perry."

 

"Did this chat have actual words, or did you just glare at him the whole time?" Stiles asks. The smirk Derek gives him makes him laugh.

 

"Daddy, guess what?" Adam suddenly pipes up. "We're going to see Grandpa and Grandma Pen for lunch!"

 

"That sounds like fun," Derek says. He shares a glance with Stiles, who grimaces. There's an awkward conversation coming, and Stiles isn't looking forward to it.

 

"And," Adam continues, "Tata said that _I_ could help cook."

 

"Did he now?" Derek says. "Is this your first step in a culinary career?"

 

"What? No! I'mma cook!" Adam insists. Derek laughs. This is something that Stiles will never get tired of: Derek playing around with their children. He pushes all of his worries aside for now and lets himself settle into the moment.

 

***

 

Stiles' cellphone rings as soon as he steps foot into his childhood home.

 

"That doesn't sound like our doorbell," Dad says, coming out of the kitchen. The children immediately rush him, practically forcing him back into the kitchen.

 

"Do they make doorbells that play actual songs?" Stiles asks.

 

"Don't even," Derek warns. Stiles shoots him a shit-eating grin as he moves further into the house to take the call, which turns out to be from Grady.

 

"Hey, Grady," Stiles says. "Everything alright?"

 

"Hi, Stiles." It's Carson, which has Stiles double-checking his caller ID. The call is coming from Grady's number. "Grady's having a bit of a moment right now."

 

"He's hiding in the bathroom." Logan's voice says in the background. Stiles hears something faint that sounds a bit like 'fuck off'. It's still technically morning, only a little after eleven, nothing too bad could've happened yet.

 

"What happened?" Stiles asks.

 

"Grady had a bit of a fight with Skye," Carson says. "Minimal shouting. Lots of anger and frustration. I can smell that now, by the way, which is very weird."

 

"I'm told you get used to it," Stiles says. "Everyone's still standing, though, I assume."

 

"Oh yeah," Carson says. "Everyone just stormed off in a huff. But I just wanted to call and ask about the family dinner thing Grady said you were planning. Is that still happening?"

 

"I completely forgot about that actually," Stiles says. "But, yeah, if Grady's still up for that. And if Skye agrees. Is that what the fight was about?"

 

"Yeah, same old thing," Carson says. "Hold on." There are some rustling noises and harsh whispering coming over the line. Derek eventually shows up to investigate the hold up and Stiles points to the phone. Derek comes closer for easier eavesdropping.

 

"Hello?" Grady's voice this time, sounding sullen.

 

"Hey, Grady," Stiles says. "Derek's here too."

 

"Hi," Grady says. "Can we do the dinner with you guys sometime really soon before I throw myself out a window?"

 

"I feel like this situation is starting to get way more dramatic than it needs to," Stiles says.

 

"She's driving me nuts," Grady says.

 

"Yeah, I can tell," Stiles says. "Look, how about this, tell her we'll try to do it this weekend and we'll talk about it more when you get home tonight. Has she said anything else about marriage?"

 

"She wants to know my opinions on venues," Grady grinds out. "And she overheard me talking about Mom being back, so now she's wondering if they could get together with her mother  and her sister  to discuss wedding dresses!" There's more rustling and Stiles assumes someone is trying to take the phone away. Stiles looks up and catches Derek's worried gaze.

 

"We'll call you back if something else happens," Logan says just before the call cuts off. Stiles lowers the phone.

 

"I'm concerned," Stiles says. "This is all going to end in tears."

 

"I'm starting to think that the only way we'll get Grady to actually properly talk to her is to have someone there with him to make sure he does it," Derek says. "Clearly he's not going to do it on his own."

 

"I know," Stiles says. "We can probably make use of the dinner. Ambush them both. Get some things clear. I'm gonna guess that he hasn't actually told her that he doesn't want to marry her."

 

"Clearly," Derek says. "What is it about this girl that's making him act like this? I can't remember him ever being like this with his other girlfriends."

 

"I don't even know," Stiles says.

 

"Lunch is ready!" Penny calls from the kitchen.

 

***

 

Stiles volunteers to wash the dishes once lunch is over. Derek takes this as a hint and enlists Penny to help him herd the kids out into the backyard to the little playground Dad had had installed soon after Emily and Ethan got old enough to use one. Dad, still sitting at the table, watches them go. Once they're all gone, he gets up and stands next to Stiles to dry the dishes as Stiles cleans them.

 

"What's up?" Dad asks. "Seems like something's happening with Grady. Aside from what happened to Carson, I mean."

 

"You don't even know, Dad," Stiles says. He 's quiet for a minute. "Skye is pregnant."

 

"Aw, really?" Dad asks, frowning.

 

"Seems so," Stiles says. "And it sounds like she's pushing for marriage too."

 

"Even better," Dad says.

 

"Yeah, that's a whole thing. I'm wondering if we can do that family dinner I talked about before - y'know, with us and the kids and you and Penny - like, sometime this weekend, maybe? We need to get this whole thing as settled as we can as quick as we can because there's other shit happening."

 

"Oh?" Dad asks. His tone makes Stiles think that he knows what's coming. Stiles takes a deep breath and doesn't take his eyes off the plate in his hands.

 

"M- Claudia's back," he says. "And she's sick. Terminally."

 

"Ah, kid," Dad says. Stiles' lips quirk in a grin. Over 30 years old and he'll always be 'kid' to his dad. He likes it though, the familiarity of the endearment. He thinks it's similar to the feeling Derek gets whenever Dad calls him 'son', or refers to him as one of 'his boys'. The sense of belonging to someone who loves you enough to claim you out loud.

 

"It's alright," Stiles says. "Not, like, okay or anything. But I'm fine. Really. It's just... kind of a lot to process. And I know you've moved on. But I just wanted you to hear it from me, just in case you need to, like, process it your own way. Or whatever." Stiles isn't quite sure what kind of feelings his dad would have to process for an ex-wife who faked her own death, came back to life, and then never contacted him beyond the one time she'd shown up in his office to reveal herself. He knows that Dad had probably gotten over the whole thing even quicker than Stiles had.

 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dad asks.

 

"I really am," Stiles says. "I worked through all the feelings I had about her back when she came back the first time. Then I decided that I wasn't going to let her hurt me anymore. What I don't like is what this whole thing is doing to Grady. I mean, all this time with only a handful of phone calls and she only shows back up when she's dying?"

 

"My guess is that she needed someone to care for her while she died," Dad says. "And Perry is the only one who can – or will – do it."

 

"Probably," Stiles says. "I just wish they'd think more of Grady's needs. But I guess the ship has kinda sailed on that one."

 

"That ship's been gone so long the dock has rotted away," Dad says. Stiles huffs out a laugh, even though it really isn't that funny.

 

"So, are you doing anything this weekend?" He asks.

 

"Work all day Friday," Dad says. "Promised to fix up the yard on Saturday. But if it's dinner we can do it Saturday night. You did say you wanted it here, right?"

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "Neutral territory."

 

"Please don't start a war in my kitchen," Dad says.

 

"Maybe hide anything breakable?" Stiles asks.

 

***

 

Grady is in a sour mood when he storms into the house after school. He doesn't say a word as he marches up the stairs and into his room. There's the sound of a door slamming shut. Stiles, going through some paperwork in the kitchen while he supervises Ethan and Emily doing their homework, watches all this in silence. He then turns towards the front door, where Carson and Logan are walking in. The boys notice him and shrug.

 

"It's been a day," Carson says.

 

"Seems like it," Stiles says. "How'd it go for you? Didn't have any issues with control?"

 

"Not really," Carson says. "I mostly just focused on keeping Grady together and didn't really have to worry about myself. Is that normal?"

 

"Probably," Stiles says. "How about you, Logan?"

 

"I think one of the Ito... pack? Beta people? Things? Anyway, one of them's been hanging around the house since last night," Logan says. "But so far I don't feel like running away screaming, so, that's good."

 

There's a sudden crash from upstairs and everyone looks up to the ceiling. Adam comes running in from the living room, where he'd been watching a movie.

 

"Something's happening!" He exclaims, eyes wide. Derek appears from seemingly out of nowhere, frowning. "Daddy! Something's happening!"

 

"Nothing's happening," Stiles says.

 

"Sounds like it is," Emily chimes in. "I can hear Uncle Grady cursing."

 

"Uncle Grady is under a lot of stress right now," Stiles says. "Let's give him a bit of space, yeah?" There's another crash. Then the sound of glass shattering.

 

"Maybe not that much space," Derek says, already heading for the stairs.

 

"Wait for me," Stiles says.


	13. Chapter 13

Grady is staring at the pieces of broken mirror littering his bedroom floor when Stiles and Derek burst in.

 

"Oh hell," Stiles says. Grady doesn't look up at them. He clenches and unclenches his fists over and over again, breathing hard and fast. Someone grabs him around the ribs and he starts like he's just been electrocuted.

 

"NO!" He shouts, starting to flail as he's lifted off the floor.

 

"Watch the glass." It's Derek, who is basically carrying Grady out of the room and away from all the destruction.

 

" I've g ot it," Stiles says. Grady starts thrashing in earnest, which only results in Derek tightening his grip and pulling Grady against his chest. Grady shouts incoherently, rage coursing through him with nowhere to go.

 

"What's going on?"

 

"Help me take him downstairs."

 

"What's wrong with Uncle Grady?"

 

"Is he crying?"

 

"Someone get the door!"

 

***

 

_"You're bleeding."_

_Grady looked down at his knuckles; they were skinned and blood was starting to well up._

_"It's fine," he said. He wiped his hand on the back of his jeans before looking back up at Carson, who was studying Grady's bedroom wall._

_"That's an impressive dent," he said. "Isn't your dad gonna be mad about it?"_

_"He'd have to actually notice it first," Grady said. His knuckles stung and he frowned at them. He'd need to bandage them up._

_"Is that why we came here to do this?" Carson asked, poking at the dent in the wall._

_"Yep," Grady said, rifling through his schoolbag for some first-aid supplies. "Stiles 'n' Derek don't like it when I trash my room there. I think it scares the kids."_

_"It also just ends with you hurting yourself," Carson said. Grady pretended not to hear him._

 

***

 

Grady has never really spent much time in the Hale house basement. Part of it is used for storage and part of it is used for werewolf containment, so he's never really had any reason to be down there.

 

It turns out that the containment cell is a lot cozier than he'd ever expected. Grady is curled on his side of a soft surface. A quick look around in his direct line of sight tells him that he's on the floor, judging by the window placement.

 

"Is this whole floor a mattress?" Grady asks, voice hoarse. Everything hurts.

 

"Something like that," Derek says from somewhere off to the side. "You back with us then?"

 

"I didn't go anywhere," Grady says. He rolls over onto his back and bumps into someone sitting close by. That someone turns out to be Carson. Next to him is Stiles, who passes over a bottle of water. Derek is crouched down next to Stiles. Grady takes the bottle from Stiles but doesn't drink from it, hugging it to his chest instead.

 

"You messed up your room," Carson says. "Basically threw anything that wasn't bolted down."

 

"Sorry," Grady mumbles.

 

"In the grand scheme of things," Stiles says. "It could've been worse. Drink your water." Grady props himself up on his elbows and does as he's told, downing half the water in seconds. He hands the bottle back and lets himself flop down to the floor with a groan, covering his face with his arms. He feels a hand pat him on the chest and then feels Carson get up. Grady peeks out from behind his arms; both Stiles and Carson are standing now. Derek has scooted closer and is watching Grady.

 

"I think it's time you and me had a talk," he says. Then he turns a serious gaze on Carson and Stiles.

 

"Okay, okay, we're going," Stiles says. "We'll see you guys upstairs later." Stiles leads Carson out of the cell and up the basement stairs, Carson keeps looking back until he's out of sight. Grady turns to Derek.

 

"How much trouble am I in?" He asks. It's not often that Grady gets on Stiles' or Derek's bad side, but he has had his fair share of troubles over the years. When Grady was very young, he'd sometimes wondered if he'd secretly been adopted by the Stilinski-Hale's because at some point they'd pretty much become his main parental figures when it came to things like discipline and holding him to task.

 

"You aren't in trouble," Derek says, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside Grady. "Though you are going to straighten your room up after. This is us having a talk about what's going on with you right now, and how you aren't dealing with it."

 

"Ugh," Grady says, and rolls onto his front away from Derek.

 

"Let's start with what happened today," Derek says. " You had a fight with Skye?"

 

"She cornered me after second period and shoved a wedding magazine in my face," Grady says. "Did you know those were even things?"

 

"Unfourtunately, I do," Derek says. There's a story there, Grady's sure. He knows he won't be getting it right now. "So, she's already planning your wedding?"

 

"Sort of," Grady says. "Her older sister's getting married soon. Skye said she wants to do a double wedding. Two sisters getting married to their high school sweethearts. Because that's cute, apparently. And then she said that she heard me talking about Mom to Carson and Logan, and that she'll forgive me for not telling her that Mom's back if I take her home sometime this week so they can meet."

 

"And how did she react when you told her that you didn't want to do that?" Derek asks.

 

"She got upset and started yelling about how she had a right to get to know her own mother-in-law and that it's _tradition_ for women to get together during wedding prep for bonding time and shit," Grady says. "And of course she was being loud as hell about it so now everyone in class knows that we're getting married and I'm sure it's all over the school by now."

 

"But you're not getting married," Derek points out.

 

"Of course not!" Grady exclaims. He shoves himself to his feet and starts to pace. "But I can't say that now that everyone else knows! She'll just have another tantrum and get everyone on her side about how I'm abandoning her, or some shit. Her best friends are already giving me shit for not letting her meet my parents. I don't think anyone else knows about the baby yet, and once they find out then I'll really get it."

 

"That's a lot to be carrying around," Derek says. "Speaking of your mom, how are you doing with that?"

 

"I try not to think about it," Grady says.

 

"Ignoring it isn't going to help anything," Derek says.

 

"Seems to work out fine for her," Grady says. "She's been ignoring me for the past six years. Pretty sure the only reason she's back is that she needs someone to take care of her now, and Dad is always ready to jump whenever she wants something."

 

"Maybe," Derek says. "So I know you aren't going to bring Skye to see her."

 

"No."

 

"But do you think that you want to see her? Before she dies?" Grady stops pacing, standing in the middle of the cell and staring blankly at one of the windows.

 

"I don't know."

 

***

 

Derek eventually goes back upstairs, once it's clear that all the talking is done for the moment, but Grady decides to stay in the basement.

 

It's actually quite peaceful, and Grady spends a little while just lying on the padded floor and listening to the sounds of normal family life coming from upstairs. There's the sound of pounding footsteps as kids run from one room to another, TV noises, chairs moving around on a floor, the doorbell at one point.

 

He must doze off, because the next thing he knows, the sky beyond the window is dark and the light in the room is coming from the ceiling lights, and Stiles is walking into the cell with a plate of food. Grady's stomach growls.

 

"Hey," Stiles says. "Feeling better?"

 

"Yeah," Grady says. He does a stretch – feeling his joints pop – and pushes himself into a sitting position. Stiles drops down next to him and hands him the plate, which has two slices of pizza on it. Grady accepts the plate and then immediately shoves one of the pizza slices in his mouth.

 

"Make sure you chew that good," Stiles says.

 

"Mm hmm," Grady mumbles. "S'good."

 

"Not if you choke on it," Stiles says. "So, I didn't get a chance to tell you earlier, but I talked to my dad today. He said that we could all get together for dinner Saturday night. You'll have to check with Skye to see if that works for her. And during this dinner, I expect you to actually have a proper talk with her about what's going to happen going forward."

 

"I will," Grady promises, and ignores the knowing look Stiles gives him.

 

"Right," Stiles says. "Anyway, you know that me and Derek will be there if you need us. I really think that it'll take some of the pressure off you when you finally get everything out in the open."

 

"Maybe," Grady says. He finishes once pizza slice and moves onto the next one, chewing thoughtfully. "What if it doesn't, though?"

 

"We'll burn that bridge once we cross it," Stiles says. Grady snorts. "Either way, Dad would prefer if you didn't destroy his kitchen." Grady stops mid-chew, his stomach rolling as he thinks of his bedroom.

 

"I'm sorry about my room," he says. "I know you guys hate it when I wreck it, but I just..."

 

"No, no," Stiles says, putting a hand on Grady's shoulder and squeezing. "I didn't mean that. Not that we rather you tear your room apart whenever you get overwhelmed like that; but as far as coping mechanisms go, it's not the worst one. I was thinking more of, like, a food fight or something." Grady pushes the plate away, half a slice still sitting on it, and tips over until he's leaning against Stiles' shoulder.

 

"I'll behave," Grady says.

 

***

 

Carson is waiting in Grady's room when Grady finally leaves the basement. The room is still a mess; books and bedding everywhere, his desk chair tipped over, drawers pulled out and emptied. The side of one of his bookshelves is cracked and buckled in where it looks like Grady'd tried to punch a hole in it, though he doesn't really remember doing it, and Grady winces at the thought of having to get it replaced. The full-length mirror that's usually hanging on the wall next to his desk is missing.

 

"Stiles said that he could repair your bookshelf with magic if you want," Carson says. He's sitting on the edge of Grady's bare mattress, turning a book over and over in his hands. "Unless you want a new one."

 

"Ugh," Grady says. He crosses over to the bed and sits next to Carson. He surveys the mess briefly.

 

"I'll help you clean up," Carson says, bumping his shoulder against Grady's.

 

"Ugh," Grady says again.

 

***

 

_"So I'm still not convinced that Stiles isn't really your dad," Logan said._

_"Shh!" Grady hissed. Tucked in the back between two tall shelves of books, Logan, Grady, and Carson were out of sight of any other students or teachers, but that didn't mean they were out of earshot. "What are you talking about?"_

_"Listen," Logan said. "My mom is about the same age as Stiles, right? It's totally possible that Stiles is your dad and not your brother."_

_"I'm pretty sure Stiles would've said if he was really Grady's dad," Carson chimed in, flipping idly through an old_ Garfield _comic._

_"Yeah," Grady said. "He's really good at telling me stuff. Also I have old pictures of my mom when she was pregnant with me. So, I don't know where you're going with this, but..."_

_"No, no," Logan said, shaking his head. "Gross. But think about it: what if she wasn't pregnant with you in those pictures? Maybe that was her pregnant with a baby she lost, and then Stiles ended up having a baby he couldn't take care of and decided to give you to his mother to raise?" Grady and Carson blinked at him in confusion._

_"Have you been watching your mother's Lifetime movies again?" Carson asked._

_"There is so much wrong with that I don't even know where to start," Grady said._

_"What? It makes sense to me," Logan said. "It also explains why you get along better with Stiles."_

_"I get along better with Stiles because he actually cares about me," Grady said. "That doesn't make him my dad." Although, sometimes, Grady really wished that Stiles was his real dad. Then at least he'd actually have one around. Also Stiles was married to Derek, so that would really give Grady_ two _dads._

_"I'm sure your parents care about you, too," Carson said. Then shrugged when Grady shot him a flat look. "Just trying to be optimistic here."_

_"Don't bother," Grady said. "I know the score."_

 

***

 

Grady and Skye have separate classes Wednesday morning, so Grady makes sure to seek her out during homeroom. She initially smiles brightly when she spots him, but then she scowls when she sees Carson behind him. Grady feels a sudden wave of tiredness and has to resist the urge to groan out loud.

 

"Hey, Skye," he says instead.

 

"Morning, Grady," Skye says. "Carson." Carson takes this as the hint that it is and wanders over to where Logan is standing at the back of the classroom near the bookshelves and laptop charging station. Grady knows that Carson will be able to hear every word they're saying anyway.

 

"So, listen," Grady says. "I'm sorry about yesterday" - which is not a complete lie - "I shouldn't have come at you like that."

 

"No, you shouldn't've," Skye says. "I just want our wedding to be perfect, Grady. So we'll have some nice memories to look back on and share with our kids." Grady clenches his jaw and bites back a reply that would only make things worse. He spots Carson and Logan over Skye's shoulder, whispering to each other. Logan sees Grady looking and makes an exaggerated panicked face.

 

"Yeah," Grady says eventually. "Right. So, I talked with my brother yesterday. Remember how I said that I could introduce you to him and his family? He says that we can all have dinner at his dad and step-mom's house this Saturday." He gives her a smile that he hopes is reassuring, but she frowns at him.

 

"I thought that you'd take me to meet your parents," Skye says. "Your mother's back, right? I really want to meet her, Grady. I don't want my first introduction to her to be at our wedding." Grady's pretty sure that after all this is said and done, the words 'wedding' and 'marriage' are going to become some sort of trigger words for him.

 

"Skye, I don't have a good relationship with my mother," Grady says. "I want you to meet my brother and his family. They're my family too, and they're who I would choose to share major life events with first."

 

"That doesn't make any sense, Grady," Skye says. "They aren't your parents."

 

"No," Grady says, "they're better."


	14. Chapter 14

Stiles and Derek are in the living room when Grady and Carson get home from school Wednesday afternoon.

 

"I was never this small, Tata!" Adam insists, peering down into a cardboard box that's only slightly shorter than he is. Stiles is looking into the box from over Adam's shoulder and smiling.

 

"You really were," he says. "And before that you were even smaller." Adam frowns down into the box and then up at Stiles.

 

"I was not!" He says. Sitting on a couch in front of his own box, Derek laughs. He looks up when Grady and Carson walk into the room.

 

"Hey, guys," he says.

 

"Hey," Carson says. Grady grunts and walks over to faceplant onto an empty expanse of couch. Lucy and Kevin, corralled in an upside-down play pen, laugh at the sight.

 

"Uncle Grady," Adam whines, ducking under one of Stiles' arms and knee-crawling over to Grady's prone form. "Tata is tryin' to say that I was really small." Stiles tries to pass a laugh off as a cough. Adam doesn’t notice.

 

"Well," Grady says, turning his head to look at Adam. "I remember you were really small."

 

"Noooooooo," Adam whines. Grady sits up and Adam crawls into his lap for a sulk. Carson sits next to the two of them.

 

"Well I feel terrible," Stiles sighs, not looking tortured in the slightest. He shares a small smile with Derek before turning back to Grady. "So, at the risk of completely freaking you out, I thought you might want to take a look at some of this stuff."

 

"What is it?" Grady asks.

 

"Some of the kids' old stuff," Stiles says. He slides a box across the floor to Grady, who leans over to look down in it. The box is filled with some old baby clothes that had once belonged to Ethan, then Adam, and then Kevin. Grady's face pales slightly and both Stiles and Derek wince.

 

"Too much?" Derek asks.

 

"I... can we maybe come back to this?" Grady asks. "After?"

 

"Sure," Stiles says. Grady moves the box away with his foot and sags back into the couch. Adam cuddles into his chest and hums contentedly.

 

"I talked to Skye today," Grady says.

 

"Oh?" Stiles asks.

 

"She said she'll come to your dad's house for dinner," Grady says. "She called it settling."

 

"I'll let Dad know," Stiles says.

 

***

 

The days leading up to Saturday night seem to go by both too fast and too slow.

 

Grady has another mini-meltdown Thursday after school, though Carson is able to head things off before the bedroom can get trashed again. Stiles makes it a point to check in on them that night before he goes to bed. Both boys are sleeping soundly, settled in a messy nest of blankets because neither of them had bothered to remake the bed after Grady'd pulled everything off of it earlier.

 

"So Carson's basically moved into Grady's bedroom at this point," Stiles says when he makes it back to bed. Derek glances up from the laptop in his lap.

 

"That's not much of a surprise," he says.

 

"Like, I don't think he's spent even one night in the guestroom," Stiles says.

 

"I think they both need each other right now," Derek says. He closes the laptop and puts it on the nightstand. He sinks down into the mattress and Stiles quickly snuggles into his side.

 

"That's true," Stiles says. "I haven't noticed Carson having any issues with his control at all."

 

"He's too busy keeping Grady in one piece."

 

"Hmm. Maybe we should take him to the dinner with us? Just in case?" Derek frowns up at the ceiling in the dark.

 

"I don't think he and Skye get along," he says. "Him being there might just make things worse."

 

"Shit. Good point. We might need to have someone stay with him, then," Stiles says. "I don't want to say that his control is tied up with his focus on Grady, but just in case it is..."

 

"Yeah," Derek agrees.

 

***

 

Grady seems like he wakes up a nervous wreck Saturday morning. He doesn't come down for breakfast, but Derek can hear him from the kitchen.

 

"I wouldn't count on him showing up for breakfast," Derek says when Stiles goes to fry some more bacon. Stiles looks up at the ceiling. Emily, standing next to him waiting for the toaster to pop, follows his gaze.

 

"Is Uncle Grady sick?" She asks, frowning.

 

"Nah," Stiles says, ruffling her hair. "He's just nervous about going to dinner at Grandpa's tonight."

 

"Why would he be nervous about that?" Ethan asks from his seat at the table. "He likes Grandpa."

 

"His girlfriend is coming too," Stiles says. "He's going to introduce her to us."

 

"Ooh! That's exciting!" Emily says, clapping her hands.

 

"That's one word for it," Stiles mutters.

 

"I just want to remind everyone right now, while we're talking about it," Derek announces. "Grady's girlfriend doesn't know about werewolves, so I want you all to be very careful tonight."

 

There's a chorus of 'Yes, Daddy'.

 

"Derek, see if either of them want anything anyway. I'm sure Carson's hungry." Stiles nods up towards the ceiling. Derek, trying to coax Kevin into finishing his scrambled eggs, glances up briefly. He cocks his head.

 

"They're on their way down," he says. Stiles puts more bacon in the frying pan. Emily's toast pops and Stiles retrieves it for her.

 

"I want mint jelly on it," she says.

 

"Yuck," Ethan mutters at the table.

 

"It's not for you!" Emily exclaims.

 

"Can I just have jelly with no toast?" Adam asks.

 

"No," Derek and Stiles answer in unison without looking. Carson enters the kitchen with Grady, pale and sour-faced, shuffling behind him. Stiles turns to look at them.

 

"So how're you feeling this morning?" He asks.

 

"Like I wanna go live out in the woods," Grady answers.

 

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Derek says.

 

***

 

Grady spends the whole day hiding out in his room. After breakfast, Stiles doesn't see him until late afternoon when he goes upstairs to start getting the kids ready to go. He knocks on Grady's door while Derek herds the kids to their respective rooms.

 

"We're gonna start getting ready now," Stiles says when Grady opens the door. "Are we doing fancy dress?"

 

"Please don't," Grady says and closes the door again. Stiles shares a look with Derek.

 

"Like I said: tears," Stiles warns. Derek nods.

 

"I wanna wear the green dress!" Emily declares from her bedroom.

 

"No, that's for special events," Derek says, heading in her direction. Stiles leads Adam and the baby twins into the nursery and starts going through the closet in there. It takes about an hour to get all five kids cleaned and dressed, and then a further half-hour to get them settled in the mini-van. Carson and Grady come downstairs at the last minute.

 

"Ready?" Stiles asks when he spots them.

 

"No," Grady mutters.

 

"Oh well," Stiles says. "We'll meet you there. And don't bother running because we will eventually find you."

 

"Ugh," Grady groans. Stiles and Derek are taking the kids in the mini-van, Grady is driving his own car and will be dropping Carson off at Lydia and Parrish's house on the way. Skye is supposed to be driving down on her own, and should be the last to arrive.

 

"Cheer up," Stiles says. "It won't be so bad."

 

"You know I'm actually going to tell her tonight that I'm not marrying her, right?" Grady asks.

 

"Dad said he hid all the breakables," Stiles says.

 

***

 

Derek and Stiles arrive at Dad's house with the kids around five. Dad meets them at the door and is immediately mobbed by five tiny bodies. The smell of sweet-and-sour chicken hits Stiles as soon as he opens the door and his mouth waters.

 

"Well, don't you all look nice," Dad says, leading the way further in the house. He eyes Adam, wearing his clown costume minus the wig and makeup, and shoots a badly concealed smile at Stiles.

 

"Not a word," Stiles says.

 

"Grady said no fancy dress," Derek says, entering last and closing the door behind himself. Penny emerges from the kitchen and surveys the children.

 

"I hope you're all hungry," she says.

 

"Do you have cookies?" Ethan asks her.

 

"Only for dessert," Penny says. "Now, who wants to help me set the table?" Ethan and Emily are the only ones who take her up on her offer. Adam, Lucy, and Kevin decide they're better off in the living room, where Dad keeps the toys. Derek follows behind them.

 

Grady shows up about ten minutes later, storming in with a scowl. He lightens up a bit when Adam drags him into the living room to play Lego. Everything is fairly calm for a bit until the doorbell rings. Grady instantly goes tense at the sound, which seems to put the younger kids on high alert.

 

"Is that the girlfriend?" Emily asks, running out from the kitchen.

 

"I would say so," Stiles says, following her. "Time to put the toys away so we can go eat."

 

"Can't I take them to the table?" Adam whines.

 

"No," Stiles says. The doorbell rings again. "Grady, that's your cue." Grady grimaces and goes off to answer the door. Stiles wrestles some Lego bricks out of Adam's hands and shoos him into the kitchen. Derek grabs Lucy and Kevin while Stiles tries to put the toys in some sort of order. They meet Grady and Skye on their way to the kitchen.

 

Stiles has only met Skye once before, about a year or so ago, when he'd had to run something to Grady at school. She'd been waiting in the front office with him when Stiles had arrived. Stiles had immediately noticed her red hair, which had reminded him of Lydia.

 

_"This is my girlfriend, Skye. Skye, this is my brother, Stiles."_

 

Stiles had said hello, she'd waved, and that had been it.

 

Seeing her now, she looks pretty much the same as she had then. Grady hadn't looked this resigned at the time, though.

 

"Hi there," Stiles says.

 

"Hi," Skye says. She still reminds him a bit of Lydia, with her red hair and confident air and fashionable clothes. "I'm Skye."

 

"Stiles," Stiles says. "We've met before. This is my husband, Derek, and our two youngest." Skye smiles at Stiles, but it falters when she turns to Derek. Stiles looks over to find Derek frowning at Skye, his eyebrows making the look more severe than he probably intends. Stiles elbows him in the side, which seems to snap him out of it.

 

"Oh," Derek says. "Sorry."

 

"Don't mind him," Stiles says. "He was raised by wolves." This time Derek elbows him and Stiles laughs. Skye giggles nervously and turns back to Grady.

 

"They're both ridiculous," Grady says. "Come on, everyone else is in the kitchen."

 

"So is this your grandfather's house?" Skye asks as she and Grady walk away. Stiles turns back to Derek to find the frown back.

 

"What's up, big guy?" He asks. Lucy tries to wriggle out of Derek's grip so Stiles takes her and sets her on the floor. Derek's nostrils flare.

 

"Something's wrong," he says. "But I don't... Maybe it's nothing."

 

"Please tell me she's not some kind of monster," Stiles says. "This dinner's already gonna be a disaster."

 

"She's human," Derek says.

 

"Tata! Daddy!" Adam yells from the kitchen. "Ethan says I have to eat all the peas by myself!"

 

"No I didn't!"

 

"We better get in there before we end up with a whole different kind of disaster," Derek says.

 

***

 

Ten minutes.

 

Ten minutes is all it takes for things to truly start going sideways.

 

Everyone is packed around the smallish kitchen table, and it has to be a minor miracle that no one's put an elbow in someone else's plate yet. It's a bit awkward, and it seems like no one can quite figure out how to start making nice. Grady makes quick introductions for everyone, but that doesn't really spark any conversation.

 

It doesn't help that Derek seems distracted, staring down at his plate like he's not really seeing it, with a frown on his face that makes Stiles nervous.

 

"Son, if you try to cut that chicken any more, you're gonna saw right through the plate," Dad says from further up the table. Derek starts in surprise and blinks down at his plate. Stiles takes a drink of water to keep himself from laughing. Adam giggles madly.

 

"I wanna see him saw through the plate," Ethan tells Emily in a loud whisper.

 

"Grandma Pen is very fond of her plates," Penny says, winking at Derek. "Let's leave them in one piece, please."

 

"This chicken is really good, Mrs. Stilinski," Skye offers. Grady, sitting next to her, nods in agreement even though it looks like he's hardly touched his plate since he sat down.

 

"Thank you, sweetheart," Penny says. Derek suddenly pushes back from the table and gets up, everyone turns to look at him. He holds up his cellphone.

 

"Sorry," he says. "I need to take this." He glances at Stiles out of the corner of his eye before turning and leaving. Stiles gets up, because he hadn't heard the phone so much as vibrate.

 

"I'd better go with him, just in case," he says.

 

"Sometimes they have mutual work emergencies." Stiles hears Grady say as he leaves the kitchen. He finds Derek in the back of the house, in the laundry room. His phone is nowhere to be seen and looking serious.

 

"We have a problem," he says when Stiles finds him.

 

"Yes," Stiles says. "Or do you mean a new problem?"

 

"She's not pregnant, Stiles," Derek says. Stiles' train of thought slams into a brick wall with a loud _bang_.

 

"What."

 

"She's not pregnant," Derek repeats. He jams his hands on his hips and stares hard at the floor. "I can't pick up on any of the signs; there's no extra heartbeat, no awareness of another presence, even the scent is wrong. I've been trying to see if I could get a hint of something, but there's nothing. And even going by the scent alone, I don't think she ever was pregnant."

 

"Shit," Stiles says. "Fuck. You're absolutely sure?"

 

"If it wasn't for the lack of pregnancy scent markers then I'd say that maybe I just can't tell," Derek says. "I'm not a pregnancy expert. But I can't smell anything from her that even _hints_ at pregnancy." Stiles feels himself break out in a cold sweat. This is bad. This is so bad.

 

He really wants to hope that Derek is wrong here, but he doesn't think he is. Derek had explained to Stiles, back when Kendra had been carrying their older twins, that pregnancy had distinct scent markers that related only to pregnancy and nothing else. It had been how Derek had known Kendra was pregnant before it was officially confirmed. Stiles knows that Derek's sense of smell is very acute, and he's the best scent tracker in the whole pack. If he says he's not picking up any scent, it's definitely not there.

 

"We can't tell him," Stiles says. "Not yet."

 

"Not while she's still here," Derek agrees. "As soon as we get home tonight. Wait until Carson is with him, that might help."

 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Stiles says. "Okay. Let's just get through this, somehow, eat quick, grab the kids, and leave. And do _not_ glare at her out there or you'll tip Grady off and we don't want that."

 

"I won't," Derek says. "But, Stiles, we still have to have the talk about marriage tonight."

 

"Oh god, do we have to?" Stiles asks. "Can we make him go through that, knowing what we know?"

 

"It has to happen," Derek says. "And, best case scenario here, maybe she just made an honest mistake and only _thinks_ she's pregnant. Her period's late, or there was a false positive pregnancy test, or something. If this is just some kind of misunderstanding and Grady flies off the handle – and we both know he probably would – then that'll just make things ten times worse."

 

"You're right," Stiles says. "You're right. We'll have to keep the marriage talk as short as possible, and with the least mentions of the baby as possible."

 

"Grady's gonna know something's up," Derek says.

 

"This is gonna be a complete shit show," Stiles agrees.


	15. Chapter 15

"Can I just have jelly with no toast?"

 

"No."

 

The Stilinski-Hale kitchen is as lively as one would expect for a family with five young children, even though it's a Saturday morning.

 

It's a familiar scene, one that Grady typically likes to sink himself into and be immersed in the back-and-forth of a loving family.

 

This morning, all he wants to do is run away.

 

***

 

_It came to the point where Grady didn't even look back whenever Perry dropped him off in Beacon Hills._

_Perry supposed that made sense; Grady was nearly twelve, getting to the age where kids didn't want to hang around with their parents as much._

_ Still, sometimes Perry wished that Grady would be as excited to spend  time  with him as he did with the Stilinski-Hales. _

_ "What are your plans for this weekend?" Perry asked Grady one day after school. Grady, just  arriving home and  walking into the kitchen, shot his father a confused look. _

_"Um... me and Carson are working on a project together," he said. "Then we'll probably play some games at Carson's house. Why?"_

_"You spend a lot of time with Carson," Claudia suddenly said from where she was working on her laptop in the kitchen window seat._

_"Yeah," Grady said, sounding a bit defensive to Perry's ears. "He's my_ best friend. _"_

 

_"Hmm," Claudia hummed._

_ "Actually I'm going over there now," Grady said. "He invited me over to dinner. I just came back to drop of f my school stuff." He threw his school bag to the floor, where it landed with a dull  _ thud _ , and left the kitchen and then the house. The front door slammed shut behind him. _

_"What was that about?" Perry asked the silent kitchen._

_"Never mind, honey," Claudia said. "Grady and I already had a talk about this. You don't need to worry about it."_

 

***

 

Skye is as beautiful as ever when Grady opens the door to her Saturday evening at John Stilinski's house. She smiles at him when he moves back to let her in, and he catches a whiff of perfume as she passes. Grady takes her coat from her, and is rewarded by the sight of a low-cut top that shows a respectable amount of cleavage.

 

He briefly wonders about the effect that the pregnancy would have on her chest – Logan had mentioned that it ma k es your boobs bigger – and then forcefully puts the thought out of his mind. 

 

Derek's face when Grady introduces him to Skye gives Grady his first inkling that something is wrong. Although he can't think of what it could be, and Derek doesn't give any hints.

 

Derek and Stiles leaving a little while after they all sit down to eat makes Grady incredibly nervous. Though he's pretty sure it's just him overreacting. Maybe something happened with Carson? Or the new alpha? He's having a hard time getting his food down either way.

 

When Stiles and Derek return, they both look quite sober, and Derek seems to be making an effort to not look at Grady's end of the table. Maybe that means that something did happen with Carson? Was that what the phone call had been about?

 

Then Lucy demands that she be let down from her highchair, and doesn't settle until Stiles has her in his lap to eat. It seems to lighten the mood a bit. Skye watches Stiles interact with his youngest daughter, then turns to Grady with a serene smile. Grady nearly chokes on a mouthful of mashed potato.

 

Ethan, sitting on Grady's other side, gives him a concerned look.

 

"I don't think it's polite if you choke to death at the kitchen table in someone else's house," he says.

 

"It's very easy to tell who raised that child," John says, aiming a grin down the table at Stiles.

 

"I take great pride in my work," Stiles says, removing Lucy's hand from his plate. "Also he's not wrong."

 

"Please don't die at the table, Uncle Grady," Emily pipes up from her seat  on Skye's other side. 

 

"I'll try not to," Grady says, coughing.

 

"So, Skye," Penny says, "how's school going?" Grady knows that Stiles has already warned John and Penny off of asking anything even related to marriage and babies. That doesn’t really leave a whole lot of topics to work with, making an awkward situation even more so.

 

"It's great," Skye says. "I think I'm going to end up missing my chance to graduate early, but that's really my own fault."

 

"Oh well," John says. "That happens. I think Stiles had the same problem."

 

"It wasn't a total bust," Stiles says. "I still nearly beat Lydia for valedictorian. Honey, no, you can't use that." It takes him a minute to wrestle his knife out of Lucy's grip, and Derek has to distract her with a piece of chicken.

 

"Is that because Auntie Lydia is smarter than you, Tata?" Adam asks.

 

"I will not confirm nor deny anything," Stiles says with a sniff.

 

"I think that means yes!" Adam announces down the table in a large stage whisper. John, Penny, and Derek all suddenly develop a short coughing fit.

 

"I am not feeling much love and support at this table," Stiles grouses.

 

Lucy slides his plate over the side of the table and onto the floor.

 

***

 

Grady offers to help with the cleanup when dinner's over, only to immediately be marched into the living room by Derek.

 

"I feel like it's not very polite to just eat and leave the mess," Grady says.

 

"We've donated Emily and Ethan to the cause," Derek says. "Which gives us enough time to have a talk."

 

"We already had a talk," Grady says. Then Stiles and Skye come in. "Shit."

 

"This is a different talk," Derek says. He directs Grady to one of the couches and sits him down on it before taking a seat next to him. Stiles and Skye settle on the other couch, with Skye shooting confused glances all around. Grady feels his stomach churn and starts regretting eating even the few bites of dinner that he had managed to force down. The noises in the kitchen can be heard clearly in the living room, so when everything suddenly goes silent Grady assumes Stiles has something to do with it. If Skye notices the difference she doesn't react to it.

 

"Okay," Stiles says, starting things off. "I think we're all long overdue for a talk with everyone. Probably for several talks."

 

"Oh god," Grady groans, and drops his face in his hands.

 

"So, wedding," Stiles says. "Grady told us that you want to get married."

 

"Oh, yeah," Skye says, looking slightly relieved. "I was thinking about doing a double wedding with my older sister. She's doing a Valentine's Day wedding."

 

"Right," Stiles says.

 

"They're mostly in charge of the invitations since they're paying for the whole thing," Skye continues. "So I could only get some extra invitations for Grady's parents. I can try asking if they can fit you two in, if you want, but they might say no."

 

"That's fine," Stiles says.

 

"Oh sweet Jesus," Grady says. "Skye, listen."

 

"I know you said that you're close to Stiles," Skye says to Grady. "But he's not exactly immediate family. Like, you two didn't grow up together or anything." Grady makes a strangled noise and gets to his feet, not sure exactly where he's trying to go, only to be pulled back down by Derek.

 

"The faster you say what you have to, the faster this can be over," Derek says.

 

"I'm not in charge of the invitations," Skye says. "This was kind of last minute."

 

"We're not worried about the invitations," Stiles says. He's talking to Skye, but he's leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees and he's looking directly at Grady. "The invitations aren't important."

 

"I'm never taking you to meet my parents!" Grady exclaims. Skye jerks back on the couch as if he'd actually struck her. Derek squeezes the back of Grady's neck, Stiles sucks in a breath of air between his teeth.

 

"Okay," he says. "That's a start."

 

"Grady," Skye says.

 

"And they aren't coming to the wedding," Grady continues, looking around the room and avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Also: there is no wedding. Between us. I'm not marrying you. Like, ever." He glances briefly at Stiles, who looks grim, then to Skye, who looks bewildered.

 

"Grady," she says. "What..." Grady tries to get up again but Derek's grip on him keeps him from moving.

 

"Just finish what you have to say," he says, and Grady can hear a tiny bit of Alpha coming through the words, "then you can go." Grady closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes again he looks at Skye; her cheeks are starting to redden and it looks like there's moisture starting to gather on her eyelids.

 

"I don't want to marry you," Grady says slowly.

 

"B- but," Skye stutters. "But it's all planned out, mostly. My sister said it was fine. And what about...?" Her hands come up to rest on her belly. Grady blinks hard.

 

"I won't abandon it," Grady says. "You have my word on that. But I can't marry you. I don't want to."

 

_I don't even want to date you_ , he doesn't say, because that's probably a bit too harsh at the moment.

 

"That's not fair!" Skye exclaims. And holy shit does she ever sound like Emily when something doesn't go her way. Grady scrubs hard at his face and tries to gather his thoughts.

 

"Skye," he says from behind his hands. "It would be even less fair if I married you now just because of the baby, and not because I actually love you."

 

_Which I don't._

 

***

 

_"Do you think my parents ever loved each other?" Grady asked. The question was so unexpected – Stiles had thought that the living room was empty – that Stiles jumped and almost tripped over a box of doll clothes in shock._

_"HOmygod how long have you been down here?" Stiles asked, catching his balance on the nearest sofa back. "I thought you were already asleep!" Which was a natural assumption to make at nearly midnight._

_"It's Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary today," Grady said. He was still sitting in the dark and Stiles groped his way to the nearest lamp. Some light revealed Grady, in his pyjamas, curled up on one of the couches and staring straight ahead at the dark TV._

_"Is it?" Stiles asked. He honestly didn't know, he'd never really bothered to keep track of Perry and Claudia's personal affairs that didn't directly involve Grady. He climbed over the back of the couch – his house, he could do what he wanted – and sat next to Grady, who didn't move._

_"I mean, she just up and left both of us," Grady said. "I don't think there's much love there."_

_"I feel you," Stiles said. "I don't really know the answer to that. I stopped trying to figure it out a while ago. Really, it is what it is."_

_"But I just don't get it," Grady said, sounding frustrated. "Was she planning on leaving the whole time? Why bother getting married and having a kid if she didn't want to stick it out 'til the end?" Stiles scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Grady's shoulders, drawing the boy in._

_"Grady, listen," he said. "I asked myself the same things once. I think that no matter what answer she has for that, neither of us will be satisfied with it."_

 

***

 

Grady drives home from the dinner with a pounding headache.

 

To be fair, though, the whole thing could have gone a lot worse. Skye had been crying when she left, which did make Grady feel bad. Not enough to change his mind about the wedding, but still.

 

He pulls into the driveway at the Hale-Stilinski home to find Carson sitting on the front steps. Carson perks up as soon as Grady gets out of the car.

 

"I thought you were being babysat," Grady says.

 

"I still am," Carson says. "Lydia's in the house. So how'd it go?"

 

"It went," Grady says. "No one's dead. Probably the relationship is over. I'm sure I'll be hearing from her soon about that."

 

"Sucks," Carson says. Grady hums. Headlights flash over the driveway as Derek and Stiles drive in with the mini-van. Grady and Carson walk into the house. Lydia meets them at the door.

 

"How was it?" She asks Grady.

 

"Stressful," Grady answers. "But it's over with."

 

"That's good," Lydia says.

 

"Lydia! Darling! Sweetheart!" Stiles exclaims from the driveway, where he's gotten out of the van.

 

"I will leave," Lydia warns, though Grady sees her grinning.

 

"You wound me," Stiles says. Emily and Ethan run ahead of him and into the house, shouting something about video games. Adam follows a bit behind them, Lydia eyeing his clown costume as he passes. Derek follows this procession with a toddler perched on each shoulder; Stiles brings up the rear.

 

"So, how was Carson?" He asks, ushering everyone inside and closing the door. "He destroy any of your furniture?"

 

"It was surprisingly uneventful," Lydia says. "Alexander did chew through the arm of the couch, but I'm pretty sure that was unrelated."

 

"I told him not to," Carson mumbles.

 

"He was fine," Lydia says. "Now, baths or no?"

 

"Baths," Stiles says. "Just for the little ones, just dump them all in."

 

"Will do," Lydia says. She gives Grady and Carson a small smile before heading up the stairs to where Derek and the kids had disappeared. A feeling of dread suddenly settles over Grady. He looks towards Carson for help, but he only looks confused. They both turn to Stiles, who isn't looking as playful as he had a few moments earlier.

 

"Boys," Stiles says. "If you'll follow me." He crosses the living room and ends up at the basement doorway. Grady and Carson follow without comment. Stiles leads them down the basement stairs and into the containment cell, turning lights on as he goes.

 

"What's going on?" Grady asks.

 

"We, uh," Stiles says, "might've figured out a thing. Or, Derek did, anyway. This is probably the best place to talk about it."

 

"Because Grady can't wreck anything in here," Carson says. Stiles winces and makes a see-sawing motion with one hand. Grady looks around the cell in a mild panic.

 

"What happened?" He asks. He hears footsteps coming down the stairs and then Derek is there, looking grim.

 

"Let's sit," Stiles says. He and Carson sit down against one of the walls, Derek and Grady stay standing.

 

"Just tell me," Grady says. "Is it Mom? Is she dead?"

 

"It's not about your mother," Derek says. "We haven't heard anything about her lately. It's about Skye."

 

"Did something happen to her between now and leaving John's house?" Grady asks.

 

"No," Derek says. "This is something I realized at John's house. You're going to want to sit down for this." Grady doesn't move.

 

"We couldn't tell you then," Stiles says. "Just in case you reacted badly."

 

"Fair," Grady says. "Alright, let me have it."

 

"She's not pregnant," Derek says bluntly.

 

Grady drops to his knees.

 

***

 

_"She_ said _she would call," Grady insisted, glaring at his cell phone. Derek and Stiles shared a look, which Grady ignored._ _"_ She said _."_

 

_"I'm sure she said a lot of things," Stiles says. "Doesn't make them true."_

 

***

 

"Grady?" Carson asks cautiously, crawling over. Grady blinks and shakes his head. Derek is crouched down in front of him, one hand on Grady's shoulder and hazel eyes boring into Grady's blue ones.

 

"Um, this is good, isn't it?" Grady asks.

 

"You tell us," Stiles says.

 

"Um," Grady says. He frowns and focuses on the feelings rising in his gut. There's some anger there, oh yes. But he finds that he's mostly feeling relieved. There's a brief flicker of sadness, a quiet mourning for a life that will never be, but it's nearly completely drowned out by a rush of relief.

 

"Grady?" Carson asks again.

 

"I'm not totally put out about there being no baby," Grady says slowly. "I'm pretty sure I wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility yet. But, um, you're sure? About this?"

 

"Pretty sure," Derek says. "No scent markers. There was never a pregnancy." He's watching Grady carefully. "It's possible that this was a honest mistake on her part, so I don't want you to go in guns blazing the next time you see her."

 

"I'll restrain myself," Grady says. "I'll talk to her first thing on Monday, get everything all cleared up."

 

"So, you're actually okay with this?" Carson asks.

 

"I wouldn't go that far," Grady says.


	16. Chapter 16

The house is near silent when Stiles wakes up early Sunday morning. He rolls over in bed and slits his eyes open, only to come face to face with Lucy peering at him from beside the bed. Stiles jerks with a surprised squawk, waking Derek and making Lucy cackle.

 

"How did you even get here?!" Stiles asks.

 

"What?" Derek asks. "This is my bed?" Lucy, still cackling, climbs up onto the bed and burrows under the covers between Stiles and Derek. She rests her head on one of the pillows and looks up at them with a satisfied smirk.

 

"Well that's new," Stiles says. Derek watches the whole scene with a confused half-asleep glare.

 

"What time is it?" He asks.

 

"Go back to sleep," Stiles says. "I'm gonna go make sure the other one isn't planning on trying the same thing."

 

"Right," Derek says. He pulls Lucy in against his chest and immediately falls back asleep. Lucy tucks her face into Derek's arm pit and then doesn't move. Stiles tries to not coo out loud at the cuteness of it all before silently slipping out of bed and heading down to the twins' nursery.

 

The nursery is dark and quiet when Stiles pokes his head in. The nightlight in the corner provides enough light for Stiles to see Kevin in his crib, sprawled out on his back and still asleep. Lucy's crib is empty. Stiles studies it. It really is time to either get her a toddler bed, or try to figure out how to put a lid on the crib.

 

He backs out of the room and closes the door softly behind himself. He passes Grady's bedroom on his way back to his own bedroom and hears hushed voices coming from inside. He resists the urge to stop and check to see if everything is alright in there.

 

Grady and Carson are in there together so he's sure they're fine.

 

***

 

It's early afternoon before Grady and Carson come downstairs. Stiles is in the kitchen contemplating his phone when they appear, both fully dressed although Grady still looks half asleep.

 

"Hey guys," Stiles says. "You missed breakfast. And lunch. There's stuff in the fridge if you're hungry."

 

"We're good," Grady says. "We're heading up to Beacon Heights. Gonna eat something while we're up there." Stiles raises his eyebrows at the two of them.

 

"I need more stuff from home," Carson says. "And I want to visit my parents."

 

"Right on," Stiles says. "Make sure you're not out too late. School tomorrow."

 

"Ugh," Grady groans, and then pulls Carson out of the kitchen by his sleeve. Carson waves, Stiles waves back. Derek pokes his head in the kitchen as soon as the boys are gone.

 

"Did you call yet?" He asks.

 

"I'm working on it," Stiles says. Derek raises his eyebrows meaningfully before disappearing. Stiles hears his footsteps move down the hallway in the direction of the back door. Stiles sighs and glares at his phone. The quicker he gets this over with, the quicker he can go spend time with his family.

 

Before he can think on it further, he scrolls through his contacts and selects Scott's number.

 

The phone rings twice.

 

"Hello?" Kira answers.

 

"Oh thank christ," Stiles says.

 

"Stiles?" Kira asks. "What's going on?"

 

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Stiles says. "Where's Scott?"

 

"In the pool," Kira says. Stiles knows that Kira and Scott's home has an indoor pool, though Stiles has never seen it. "What's up?"

 

"Just wanted to give you an update on Lucian Peters," Stiles says. "Which I probably should've done a week ago, but stuff was happening. So."

 

"Oh no," Kira says.

 

"Long story short: he's dead," Stiles says. "The Ito pack ended up taking care of him."

 

"What?!" Stiles hears a shout in the background, and Kira sighs down the phone. Stiles brings his free hand up and starts massaging his forehead.

 

"Might as well put him on," he says. "Get this over with."

 

"Stiles! What's going on?" Scott's already on the line.

 

"Hey, Scott," Stiles says. "How's it going?"

 

"What happened?" Scott asks.

 

"Basically, Peters got in a fight with the Ito pack and didn't come out of it," Stiles says. "Apparently he'd been making his way down here from, fucking, Washington or somewhere in that general direction, turning people as he went, and got stopped in Beacon Heights. He was no match for a pack who was prepared for him, apparently."

 

"He's seriously dead?" Scott asks.

 

"Oh yeah," Stiles says. "Definitely."

 

"You didn't have to kill him, Stiles," Scott says, reproachful.

 

"I didn't kill him," Stiles says. "I wasn't even there, none of us were. The Ito pack took care of him, which was well within their rights since they caught him red-handed attacking humans in their territory. Not that it would've ended much different if he'd ended up in Beacon Hills instead."

 

"Stiles," Scott says.

 

"I didn't call for your judgement, Scott," Stiles snaps. "I called to let you know that the situation's changed. The threat has been neutralized and all that. I wasn't sure if you guys'd heard yet."

 

"This is the first I'm hearing about it," Scott says.

 

"Well," Stiles says. "I'm just letting you know. The Ito pack is in charge of tying up any loose ends, since they were the most involved, so if you have any concerns you can get in touch with them."

 

"Any casualties?" Scott asks.

 

"Aside from Peters?" Stiles asks. "A few of the people he attacked ended up dying, the rest were turned. I'm pretty sure he had to kill someone to become an Alpha, but we don't know who yet. Other than that, not that I know of."

 

"That's good, I guess," Scott says.

 

"One of the best case scenarios," Stiles agrees. The conversation limps along for another little bit before Stiles ends the call. There are times when Stiles regrets that his relationship with Scott has broken down as much as it has. This is not one of those times. Maybe it's unfair of him, but situations like this make him feel like he won't be able to rely on Scott in a crisis. What would've happened to Grady and his friends if Scott had been their only protection that night? Someone who probably would've pulled his punches and done his best to give Peters a "second chance"? Stiles doesn't want to consider it.

 

He sighs and is about to get up from the table when his phone buzzes in his hand. The caller ID flashes Perry's picture. Stiles sighs again before he answers.

 

"Hello," he says.

 

"Stiles," Perry says. "Is Grady there with you? He isn't answering my calls."

 

"If you were my father I wouldn't answer your calls either," Stiles says. "And no Grady's not here. He and Carson went out. What's going on?"

 

"It's about Claudia," Perry says. "I'm sure Grady told you she's not doing well."

 

"Terminal cancer," Stiles says. "Did something happen?" Oh god, it would be just like Perry to have Stiles and Derek break the news to Grady about his mother's death. Not that doing it that way wouldn't be the better option, but still.

 

"No, not yet," Perry says. "It's just that... I really don't think she has a lot of time left. I want Grady to have a last chance to see her before she passes."

 

"Hmm," Stiles says. "Well, I'll bring it up with him, but I can't promise anything."

 

"Um, this might be out of line, but," Perry says. "If, um, I don't know if _you_ wanted-"

 

"Nope," Stiles cuts him off. "I'll talk with Grady and someone will get back to you." He ends the call and shoves his phone in his pocket. His plan is to go out to the backyard where he knows Derek and the kids are playing. Instead he stays sitting at the table with his head in his hands until Derek comes looking for him.

 

***

 

"So Perry asked me if I wanted to go see Claudia before she died," Stiles says suddenly, in the middle of washing the dinner dishes. Derek, standing next to him and drying the dishes, doesn't look over, but does lean into Stiles' shoulder.

 

"When was that?" He asks.

 

"This afternoon," Stiles says. "Right after I called Scott."

 

"Hmm," Derek hums.

 

"I'm not going to see her," Stiles says. "I'm going to ask Grady about what he wants to do. I'm sure he's gotta be confused about this whole thing."

 

"Has he said anything about it recently?" Derek asks.

 

"Not a word. I think we were all so preoccupied with Skye and Carson that we forgot about it a bit."

 

"Is Claudia still at the house?"

 

"As far as I know." Stiles hands Derek the last plate and starts draining the sink. "I don't know what condition she's in, but Perry said that he doesn't think she has much longer."

 

"How are you feeling about that?" Derek asks. Stiles braces himself against the counter and looks down into the drain without actually seeing it. Derek pauses next to him.

 

"I can't really make myself feel any particular way about it," Stiles says. "I'm not happy that she's dying, but..." He looks up. "I already did my mourning for her, Derek. She could've died at any time since she's been gone and I might never have known, and it wouldn't have affected me one bit. But... I don't like to think about her just wasting away in a bed at home. If Grady does end up wanting to see her one last time, I don't want it to be like that. And even if he doesn’t want to see her, I guess."

 

"We can probably get her into the hospital if you want," Derek says. "Or arrange for nurses to do home care, or something. Or maybe Perry's already arranged something."

 

"What I want is for her to go away," Stiles says. He feels a lump rise in his throat and his eyes sting. Derek is quick to wrap him in a hug and Stiles presses his face against Derek's shoulder. "It's like all she's ever done is disrupt our lives, coming and going all the time."

 

"Well," Derek says, "she definitely is going this time."

 

Stiles' laugh is dark and ugly.

 

***

 

Grady and Carson come back to the house nearly right before it can be considered 'extremely late' for a school night. Stiles is waiting for them in the living room. The boys freeze as soon as they spot him.

 

"Did we miss a curfew?" Carson mumbles to Grady.

 

"Do we have a curfew?" Grady asks.

 

"I called Carson's mother earlier," Stiles says. "I knew where you both were. Anyway, Grady, I need to talk to you."

 

"I'll go put my stuff away," Carson says. He heads upstairs with a duffel bag. Grady shuffles into the living room and sits down next to Stiles on the couch.

 

"If this is about Skye I'll talk to her tomorrow," Grady says. "I didn't see her today."

 

"It's not about Skye, though talking to her is a good idea," Stiles says. "This is about your mother." Grady stiffens.

 

"What about her?" He asks.

 

"Perry called me today, he says you're not answering his calls," Stiles says.

 

"I've decided to take a page out of his book," Grady says.

 

"I feel like as a Proper Adult I can't really encourage that behaviour," Stiles says. "But good on you. He wanted to know if you wanted to see Claudia before she dies. He doesn't think she has much time left." Grady looks at Stiles with wide eyes and doesn't say anything.

 

"Look," Stiles continues. "I don't want to put any pressure on you, but you don't have a lot of time to decide on this. Sleep on it and see what you feel like tomorrow."

 

"Are you gonna go see her?" Grady asks, sounding very young.

 

"No," Stiles says. "It won't do anything for me. I already made my peace with losing her. Twice, sort of. When she left the last time, I wasn't expecting to ever see her again. It didn't bother me as much as I thought. I'm not sure what that says about me, but it is what it is. If you want to see her, though, that's up to you."

 

"I'll have to think about it," Grady says.

 

"Just let us know what you decide," Stiles says.

 

Grady nods, then he gets up and leaves the room.

 

***

 

Grady is quiet during breakfast on Monday morning. He doesn't say a word from the moment he arrives in the kitchen up until when he and Carson leave for school.

 

"He seems like he's putting some serious thought into this," Stiles says.

 

"Hm," Derek agrees. "I'm going to go up to Beacon Heights after I drop the twins off. See what the whole situation is like up there. You want me to let you know what's going on?"

 

"Not really," Stiles says. "Just do what you think is best for Grady. I'll be fine either way."

 

"You're sure?" Derek asks.

 

"Hey, we didn't spend all that money on therapy for nothing," Stiles says.

 

"You'll tell me, though, if you need something." It's not a question.

 

Stiles smiles.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the wait, we had a death in the family over the weekend and that's kind of messed with my motivation to do things

Grady hasn't said a word to anyone all morning, and he's still just as quiet when he and Carson arrive at school Monday morning. Carson, to his credit, hasn't tried to get him to talk and has just been a silent source of support the whole time.

 

They arrive at school a bit earlier than usual, even with the longer commute from Beacon Hills, so they have their choice of decent parking spaces. Grady pulls into an empty space fairly close to the building, but doesn't get out of the car once he turns it off. He and Carson sit in silence for a few moments, just listening to the sounds of other students driving in or walking by.

 

"So," Carson says eventually. "Do you know what you're going to say to her?" Grady, who had spent a lot of the weekend constructing and discarding speeches in his head, shrugs.

 

"I'm definitely breaking up with her," he says. "For good. Beyond that, I've got nothing."

 

"We'll see what we'll see?" Carson asks.

 

"Pretty much," Grady says. He still makes no move to get out of the car. Carson is good enough to wait with him for another ten minutes before Grady decides that he's ready.

 

***

 

_"I didn't know your class was still doing valentines for everyone at your age," Claudia said. She stood over Grady, who was lying on the living room floor surrounded by markers and valentines cards._

_ "Yeah," Grady said. "This is our last year. They don't do them in junior high." He rummaged through a pile of cards to try to find the least appealing one he could give to Nelson, the kid in class he hated the most. He wondered if he could get away with just giving him an empty envelope, or just a piece of notebook paper with his name on it. Based on all the complaining he'd done over the year, his teacher would never believe that he'd just forgotten about him. _

_"Where did you get these?" Claudia asked. "I thought you spent your allowance on that game you wanted last week."_

_"Derek bought them for me," Grady said. "He took me shopping to help him pick out a nice card for Stiles and he got me these at the same time. Look, they're holographic." He picked up the nearest card and waved it in Claudia's face, letting the shiny parts glitter in the light. Claudia pushed his arm out of the way._

_"Careful," she said. "What about this one? That one definitely did not come as part of this set." She pointed to a heart-shaped card that was noticeably bigger than the others, and definitely did not look like it came from a box of children's valentines cards. Grady's cheeks reddened slightly._

_"That's a special one," he mumbled. He reached out to try to take it, but Claudia was faster. She picked it up and opened it._

_"Carson's name is in here," Claudia said._

_"It's not a big deal," Grady mumbled, feeling his cheeks burn. "He's my best friend."_

_"This isn't really an appropriate card for a best friend," Claudia said. "It's more for a girlfriend. Maybe a teacher at a stretch."_

_ "Maybe," Grady said. Derek had said something similar when Grady had shown him the card, but he'd been nice about it and hadn't used words like 'not appropriate'. And he'd smiled and bought the card. "But I'm giving it to Carson. He'll like it." _

 

_"He's a boy, Grady," Claudia said. "He's not going to like it coming from another boy. Here." And before Grady could do anything, Claudia picked up a marker and scratched Carson's name out of the card. She wrote down Grady's teacher's name in its place and then handed the card back. Grady didn't take it from her._

_"You_ ruined _it!" He shrieked._

_"Don't you yell at me," Claudia said. She put the card back in the pile she'd taken it from and got up. "If you're going to do valentines, you need to do them right." She left the room, leaving Grady staring after her._

_Perry was confused when he went to take out the trash later that night and found a pile of shiny, ripped up cardstock lying on top of all the other garbage in the bag._

_"What's all this?" He asked. Grady was upstairs in his room, Claudia was getting a bottle of water out of the fridge._

_"It's nothing," she said. "Grady had a bit of a tantrum earlier."_

_"I don't know what gets into that boy sometimes," Perry said, closing the bag and tying it off._

 

***

 

Logan is waiting by Grady's locker when Grady and Carson approach it.

 

"Hey guys," he says. "Ready for the fireworks?"

 

"I hate you," Grady mutters. He hip-checks Logan out of the way and starts working his combination lock.

 

"You love me," Logan says, leaning on the next locker over. "But seriously though, how much shit are you expecting this morning?"

 

"Fuck, I dunno," Grady says. "Probably a lot?"

 

"You got a plan?" Logan asks.

 

"Not really," Grady says.

 

"Well, I hope you figure something out soon," Logan says. "Because I see Greta over there, so the other two can't be too far off." He nods towards the other end of the hall and both Grady and Carson turn to look. Greta is one of Skye's best friends, and she's standing near a bank of lockers down the hall and glaring daggers at Grady.

 

"Oh great," Grady groans.

 

"She looks pissed," Logan points out.

 

"Thank you, Sherlock," Grady says. "You figure that out all by yourself?"

 

"Yeah, I'm smart like that," Logan says.

 

"She certainly sounds pissed," Carson says. None of the boys can see who Greta is talking to, only that she is. Grady would bet she's talking to either Skye or the third member of their friend group, Lauren.

 

"You can hear her from here?" Logan asks, awed.

 

"Perfectly," Carson says. "Seems like Skye has had some stuff to say about you over the weekend, Grady. And none of it was nice." This doesn't surprise Grady. He opens his locker, stares blankly into it, and then closes it again.

 

"Might as well get this over with now," he says. "I want to get this out of the way before the school day starts." He starts walking down the hall in Greta's direction.

 

"Oh, you're just gonna, okay," Logan says. He and Carson follow after Grady. Grady doesn't take his eyes off of Greta as he marches down the slowly filling hallway, and she doesn't look the least bit intimidated by him. She also doesn't look any less angry up close. Once he reaches that end of the hallway, he finds out that Greta had been talking to Lauren, who was standing in one of the classrooms. A quick look around doesn't reveal Skye anywhere. Grady locks eyes with Greta.

 

"Where is she?" He asks.

 

"Why should I tell you?" Greta asks. She's short enough that she has to look up into Grady's face, and angry enough that she could probably tackle Grady right to the floor if she wanted. Grady has to give it to Skye: her friends are as loyal and dedicated to her as his are to him.

 

"Because I need to talk to her," Grady says.

 

"You think you can just fix this just by talking?" Greta asks.

 

"No," Grady says. "But I'm not trying to 'fix this'."

 

"You're unbelievable," Greta says. "I honestly didn't peg you for this much of an asshole."

 

"Nothing I can do about that," Grady says. "Where is she?"

 

"Greta, it's fine." Skye exits the classroom from where she'd been hiding out of sight behind Lauren. "We probably do need to talk."

 

"Do you want to do this here?" Grady asks, looking around at all the students wandering the hall, some of whom have obviously smelled drama in the air and are throwing over curious looks. "Or do you want to go somewhere more private?"

 

"She's not going anywhere alone with you," Lauren says.

 

"That's fine." Grady shrugs. He's not sure exactly what Skye has been telling them to make them act like this - surely he's not that much of an asshole, and he's gotten along well enough with them in the past - but soon this won't be his problem so he's fine with catering to whatever requests they have.

 

Skye looks around at everyone before throwing her hands up in a huff and gesturing down the hall. "This way," she says, and walks off. Greta gives Grady one last dirty look before following. Lauren looks like she's going to stay behind.

 

"You're not coming?" Grady asks.

 

"I think you're a dick," Lauren says. "But I'm not worried you're going to do anything to her. This is between the two of you, none of my business."

 

"Well, I'm not that noble," Logan says. "Come on, we're losing them."

 

"I'll keep him out of the way," Carson tells Grady. Grady rolls his eyes.

 

***

 

_"I need a girlfriend," Grady said._

_"Grady, you're 12," Stiles said. "You don't need a girlfriend. What would a 12-year-old even do with a girlfriend?"_

_"Didn't you have any girlfriends when you were 12, Stiles?" Grady asked._

_"I had, like, 0 game until I was in college," Stiles said. "That's how I snagged Derek."_

_"You still didn't have any game then," Derek said from behind his newspaper._

_"I'm offended," Stiles said._

_"But I'm not wrong," Derek said._

_"Rude," Stiles muttered._

_"When did you get your first girlfriend, Stiles?" Grady asked. The smile slipped from Stiles' face and he got that look in his eyes that he sometimes got when Grady asked certain questions. Stiles was usually pretty good at answering any of Grady's questions, about anything, but there were some things he just couldn't seem to bring himself to talk about._

_"The first person I ever dated, who just happened to be a girl, was a girl named Malia. When I was about 16," Stiles said. "It... wasn't great. Actually, I dated Lydia for a little while some time after that. We didn't work out, but it was fun while it lasted."_

_"Lydia?" Grady asked. "Lydia Martin? Who's married with Deputy Parrish?"_

 

_"Yup," Stiles said. "The very same. We make better friends, it turns out. And then I started dating Derek, and then I married him."_

_"So you had girlfriends and boyfriends," Grady said._

_"Only the one boyfriend, but yeah, basically," Stiles said. "Who said you needed a girlfriend?"_

_"No one," Grady said. "I just... think it would be a good idea to have one."_

_"Right," Stiles said. "Just, take it from the both of us: don't date someone just because you want to be with someone. Wait until you have a person that makes you happy and that you like being with."_

 

***

 

They end up in the library, which is pretty empty at this time of morning.

 

The librarian eyes them from behind her desk as they all troop in. Logan waves at her, which only makes her narrow her eyes in suspicion, until Carson elbows him to make him stop. The group of them follow Skye to the back of the library where the older desktop computers are kept. People rarely come back here, so it makes for an ideal place for semi-private meetings. Unless, of course, someone else has already had the same idea. Luckily that isn't the case this morning.

 

Skye takes a seat at one of the computer desks, spinning around so that her back is facing the computer. Greta sits down in the next chair over. Grady remains standing, he doesn't anticipate this taking too long, and Logan and Carson follow his lead, though a little ways away to avoid crowding.

 

"I really don't think there's much more to say at this point," Skye says. "I think we should both just cool down and talk later when we're both calmer."

 

"No," Grady says. "We're talking now because there isn't a later for us."

 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Greta snaps.

 

"Not as ominous as it sounded," Carson says.

 

"Right," Grady says. "I don't want to talk to you later. Honestly, I don't want to talk to you now. But I have to, to get everything settled once and for all."

 

"You already said that you won't marry me," Skye says. "I'm sure we can get past this at some point, every couple has fights, but I'm still angry with you right now."

 

"You're angry?" Grady asks. "You? Are angry?" He laughs harshly. "Oh boy. No, y'know what? _I_ am angry." Skye stares up at Grady, her eyes wide and shiny, and Grady notices the instant that she realizes that _he knows_. Her eyes widen even more and two red spots appear on her cheeks.

 

"Grady-"

 

"No," Grady says. "You lied to me."

 

"I just-"

 

"There's really no excuse for something like this," Grady interrupts her.

 

"What's going on?" Greta asks, gaze darting back and forth between Grady and Skye.

 

"You wouldn't take me to meet your family!" Skye exclaims, jumping to her feet. "We've barely been hanging out for the past few months, I've never met your parents, you seem like you get mad at me every time I even open my mouth! It's like every time I tried to get to know you or your family better you just shut down on me and wouldn't let me in! You even stopped coming around to spend time with my family! What was I supposed to do, Grady?!"

 

"You weren't supposed to trap me into marrying you!" Grady exclaims. "How would that have fixed anything!? Explain that one to me!"

 

"Calm down," Carson says. Grady looks over his shoulder to where Carson is propped up against one of the bookshelves. Carson is staring at his chest with a small frown, and Grady realizes that he must be listening to his heartbeat, which feels like it's racing.

 

"And that's another thing!" Skye exclaims. They're both starting to get a bit loud, which is definitely going to have a teacher on their case soon if they aren't careful. "You like _Carson_ more than you like _me_!"

 

"Oh my god," Grady groans. "Are you serious about this? I didn't know having a girlfriend meant that I wasn't allowed to have friends."

 

"You know what I mean," Skye says.

 

"No, I don't," Grady says. "Me and Carson have been friends since we were kids. I wasn't gonna drop him the second I started dating you! I never asked you to get rid of your friends."

 

"It's different," Skye says. "I can't explain it, but it's different." Grady narrows his eyes at her. Skye and Carson have never really gotten along, probably since not long after Grady and Skye had first gotten together. Grady had just assumed it was because of a personality conflict. If it's because Skye had been jealous of he and Carson's relationship, he is going to be _beyond_ annoyed.

 

"Whatever," he mutters, because he doesn't want to get into that right now. "It doesn't matter. Whatever your issue is with Carson is really none of my business anymore. And has nothing to do with the reason I'm breaking up with you."

 

"What do you mean you're breaking up with me?" Skye asks. "Why?"

 

"Why do you think?" Grady asks. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out that you weren't actually pregnant?"

 

"Wait, wait," Greta breaks in. "You're pregnant?"

 

"She isn't," Grady says. "She never was." Skye's face goes pale. Grady knows that she wasn't expecting him to find out. Maybe Grady should've asked more questions when she'd first sprung the news on him, but he'd had no reason to think she'd been lying. Who lies about things that big? Maybe his mother. And yeah, Skye can be self-centered and pushy and aggravating at times, but she's a far cry from Claudia Stilinski.

 

"What?" Greta asks.

 

"It's- Wait," Skye says. "I can explain." But she can't, not really. Not in a way that'll save this situation or relationship.

 

"You really can't," Grady says. "There's really nothing you can say that'll make this any better."

 

"Hold on," Greta says. "Time out. What is going on here?"

 

"Skye lied about being pregnant to get Grady to marry her," Logan pipes up in the background. "Because... reasons?"

 

"Seriously?" Greta asks. "Why the _fuck_ would you do that?!"

 

"Who says I'm not pregnant?" Skye asks desperately. Grady pauses. He can't just say that his brother-in-law is a werewolf who can smell the difference.

 

"Stiles and Derek sat me down to talk to me after the dinner," Grady says. "They kinda helped me realize that you probably weren't being completely honest with me. And I know that we used birth control, so I mean-"

 

"Birth control can fail, Grady," Skye says.

 

"Also you have no proof," Grady says. "You didn't show me anything when you told me, and you haven't shown me anything since. Not even at the dinner with my family. You barely even brought it up. Actually, the only thing you really talked about since then is the wedding. I believed you right away because, well, who would lie about that kind of thing? Right?"

 

"Grady, we can still fix this," Skye says. "Just let me explain. If you'd just-"

 

"Why should I listen to anything you have to say?" Grady asks. "How am I supposed to trust you after something like this? Huh? You think you can just apologize and everything'll go away?"

 

"I can prove it though!" Skye says. "I can get an ultrasound or something."

 

"Really?" Grady asks. "In that case I can give you a ride to the hospital right now. We'll go in together and then we'll see." Skye looks down and doesn't say anything.

 

"Oh my god, Skye," Greta groans, running a hand through her hair. "I can't believe this."

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "So that's it." Skye lets herself drop back in the computer chair, tears slipping down her cheeks.

 

"I'm sorry," she says.

 

"I guess," Grady says. He looks at Skye for another minute, trying to feel something other than anger and relief and failing. He can't think of anything else to say right now that won't make him sound like a complete dick, so he just leaves. He doesn't head to class though, instead he escape into the nearest bathroom and locks himself into one of the stalls.

 

"Really?" Logan says to Carson, who have naturally both followed him in. "I thought this meant we'd be done with this nonsense."

 

"Shut up," Carson says. Grady quirks a brief smile and rests his forehead against the stall door. It's cool against his face.

 

***

 

_"Do you ever think about getting married?" Grady asked, staring up at the sky._

_"Sometimes," Carson answered. "Do you?"_

_"Sometimes."_

_The sun was starting to set, which made it especially dark in wooded areas like Stiles and Derek's backyard. Derek was sitting on the back porch feeding Adam, and pretending that he couldn't actually hear whatever Grady and Carson were saying._

_"I told my mom that I wanted to marry a boy one day," Carson said._

_"Really?" Grady asked._

_ "Yeah. She said that she didn't care who I married as long as she got to have grandbabies at some point." _

_"I like your mom."_

_"Yeah, she's cool."_


	18. Chapter 18

The house has turned into a bit of a command centre by the time Derek returns from taking the twins to school and visiting Perry. The look of confusion on his face when he opens the door to carefully controlled chaos almost makes Stiles laugh.

 

"What's going on here?" Derek asks.

 

"We got a call about an orphaned child to place," Stiles says, going over to greet him. Derek hands him a full garbage bag. A peek inside reveals balled up clothes and what looks like a small DVD or video game collection. "These clothes'll have to be washed," Stiles mutters.

 

"You got everything under control?" Derek asks. Stiles leads him into the kitchen, where the table is swarming with loose paper and activity.

 

"Somewhat," Stiles says. "Just nailing down some specifics and searching for safe foster homes. We've got it. Did you talk to Perry?"

 

"I did," Derek says. "Upstairs?"

 

"I'll meet you there," Stiles says. Derek nods and leaves the kitchen. Stiles has a quick look into the backyard, where Firas and Eoin are looking after the kids, before he squeezes between Parrish and Kendra at the kitchen table.

 

"I've got a list of good-looking safe homes in the nearby area," Parrish is saying. "But I'm not sure if it wouldn't be better to move the cub further away, for safety reasons."

 

"Is there any actual danger, or is this more of a 'what-if' worry?" Cora, on Kendra's other side, asks.

 

"Hey," Stiles interrupts. "I need to talk to Derek about something, you guys good down here?"

 

"Oh yeah, we can deal without you for a bit," Cora says. "You're not that important."

 

"You wound me, Hale," Stiles says.

 

"Everything alright, Stiles?" Parrish asks.

 

"Yeah," Stiles sighs. "Just Claudia issues." All activity in the kitchen ceases and everyone in the room turns towards Stiles. "We're dealing with it. Just carry on here, I'll be back in a bit."

 

"Take your time," Parrish says. Stiles nods and leaves the room. He jogs upstairs and finds Derek in Stiles' office, sitting at the desk and fiddling with some toys the children had left in there. Stiles closes the door behind himself, completely sealing any inside noise out from anyone outside.

 

"So what did you find out?" Stiles asks, completely ignoring the couch and sitting in Derek's lap in the chair. The chair is a fancy ergonomic chair Stiles had specially ordered and then enchanted to hold very significant amounts of weight. For reasons.

 

"Not much that we didn't already suspect," Derek says. He curls an arm around Stiles' back and cuddles him in closer. "I didn't see Claudia, she was in the bedroom sleeping. But the whole house smelled like impending death. Perry's got some home palliative care set up, but he can't really afford anything else. I offered to put her up in the hospital here, in Beacon Hills, and he agreed."

 

"Why here?" Stiles asks.

 

"It's closest to Grady. And I really think he's going to be living here for a bit," Derek says. "Between what's going on with his parents, and Carson, I know I would feel more comfortable with him here where we can keep an eye on him. And he hasn't said anything about going back home."

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. The thing about Grady, though, is that when he's staying in Beacon Hills he never seems to want to return back to Beacon Heights. Ever since he was younger, starting maybe a year or two before Claudia left him, he'd always seem to want to stay at the Hale house. And Stiles and Derek have always been happy to have him. If there's one major regret in Stiles' life it's that he and Derek never tried to fight harder for custody of Grady. If he could do everything over again, Stiles knows that that would be one of the first things he would change. But it's too late now, so they just have to do the best they can.

 

"Also, with Melissa still working there it'll give us a chance to get the inside information on the whole situation," Derek says. "Not, like, access to medical records or anything. But she can just keep an eye on things."

 

"Sounds like a decent plan," Stiles says. "So if she doesn't have long left, how long has she been sick?"

 

"A few years, according to Perry," Derek says. "Two or three. It started out as breast cancer and then ended up spreading before they could stop it. She's run out of money now and come back to Perry because she has nowhere else to go."

 

"She's been sick this whole time and never said anything to Grady?" Stiles asks. Phone calls from Claudia had always been incredibly rare, but they did happen maybe once a year.

 

"No," Derek says. "And I didn't get an answer about that. But that's what the situation is now. I'll make the call in a few minutes and have her admitted today. We'll have to sit down with Grady and let him know what his options are. Perry said she doesn't have much time left, and she really doesn't."

 

"Right," Stiles says. "We should be able to get this kid placed this afternoon, before school's out even. So we'll dedicate tonight to all this. Give Grady all the facts and see what he thinks."

 

"What do you think about all this?" Derek asks. Stiles goes quiet and presses his lips against Derek's temple. Derek rubs wide circles on his back and waits.

 

"I feel like it makes me sound like an asshole when I say that I don't care," Stiles says finally. "But I don't. She's not my mother anymore. She hasn't been since it turned out that she faked her own death to get away from me. So I don't feel bad about her dying now. Not for me, anyway. I'm mostly worried about Grady and how he's going to handle this. I'm sure there's a lot going on in his head that he doesn't tell us, and I don't know how much of that is tangled up with his feelings for Claudia."

 

"We'll have to see what he has to say about it," Derek says. "Also the full moon is coming up so we'll have to discuss that with both him and Carson."

 

"That'll be fun," Stiles says.

 

"So, about this kid that needs placement," Derek says.

 

"It's not coming here," Stiles says immediately. "We have enough children."

 

Derek laughs.

 

***

 

"I did it!" Grady bursts into the house on a shout. Everyone in the kitchen and living room are drawn over by the noise. Stiles exits the kitchen to see Grady taking everyone in with a bewildered expression. "There is a lot more people than I was expecting."

 

"Told you," Carson says from behind him.

 

"Welcome back," Stiles says. "We ordered takeout so don't eat anything yet." The child placement from that morning had turned into a whole affair with the discovery of _another_ child who needed a whole separate placement and also possibly extra security measures. They had not, as Stiles had predicted earlier, gotten anything done before the end of the school day.

 

"What did you do, Uncle Grady?" Emily asks, popping up over the back of one of the living room couches.

 

"I, er, had a very important conversation with a person and it went my way in the end," Grady says.

 

"Good call," Stiles says. "Oh hey, Logan, didn't see you back there." Logan pushes his way past Grady and Carson and into the house.

 

"Did we crash a party?" Logan asks, looking around.

 

"I wish," Stiles says. "Just work stuff. Grady, Derek brought some more of your things back from your father's. I already washed the clothes so you can go put them away."

 

"Yup, we're just gonna be upstairs," Grady says. He, Carson, and Logan thunder up the stairs and everyone else drifts back to their previous positions.

 

"He certainly looks happier than I've seen him in a while," Derek says, leaning against the kitchen door frame.

 

"Doesn't he," Stiles says. "Too bad we're going to ruin that later."

 

"Hmm," Derek says.

 

***

 

Stiles and some of the other pack members ended up having to work through dinner, meaning that the kitchen table could not be used for its intended purpose. The kids had gotten a kick out of eating on the living room floor, and had made only minimal mess.

 

Everyone had pretty much cleared out after the food was gone, plans set in motion and as happy as they could be with them.

 

Now Stiles and Derek are in the upstairs office with Grady, Carson having been tasked with keeping the children alive  downstairs  in the meantime. Stiles lets Grady have the computer chair and doesn't say anything when Grady starts rolling back and forth on the floor with it. Stiles and Derek take the couch.

 

"So I broke up with Skye," Grady says eventually.

 

"Good for you," Stiles says. "How'd that go?"

 

"It went good," Grady says. "She wasn't happy about it, obviously, but I was glad when it was over. She actually wanted to try to work things out, but I couldn't do it. I wasn't actually enjoying spending time with her anymore, and then she lied about being pregnant and I just can't get past that."

 

"It's a good limit to set," Stiles says. "The whole point of dating someone is to enjoy spending time with someone you love and trust. Or, at the very least, someone you have a good time with who doesn't lie to you about serious matters. But you're really okay with all this?"

 

"I feel free," Grady says. "But I keep thinking that maybe things wouldn't've gotten this far if I'd dealt with other things sooner, so I do feel a bit bad about that."

 

"You're not wrong there," Stiles says. "Both of you did things you shouldn't have, and I'm sure she regrets it as much as you do. But it's over now and all you can really do is take this as a lesson so you know what not to do with the next person."

 

"Right," Grady says.

 

"Now," Stiles says. "Onto the next issue."

 

"Mom?" Grady asks.

 

"Yep," Stiles says. He turns to Derek. "Your turn."

 

"I went to see your father today," Derek says. Grady doesn't look at him and starts spinning in the chair, but Stiles is pretty sure that he's listening. "I didn't see your mother, but she was there, I could hear her and smell her. She's really not doing good, Grady. Even just going by the smell, I wouldn't give her much time left. We're looking at weeks here, if that." Stiles watches him closely, but Grady isn't giving anything away. Derek's sensitive hearing or sense of smell could pick something up, and the way his eyebrows are furrowing make Stiles think that that's the case.

 

"My dad pretty much gave you the rest of my stuff, I think," Grady says, after clearing his throat. "I don't know what that means aside from that I don't really need to go back home."

 

"I'm not sure what that means either," Derek says. "I just went over and he handed me that. He knows you're here, and we like having you here, so whatever's going on with that, you're fine staying here."

 

"As far as we're concerned, this is your home too," Stiles says. "So don't worry about that."

 

"We got your mother admitted to Beacon Hills Memorial today," Derek says. "So that's where she's at right now. She's getting around-the-clock care, so you don't have to worry about that either. It's still up to you if you want to see her before she dies. Just know that she's in Beacon Hills now, and that you have a short window of time here. We don't want to rush you on this, but that's the situation we're in."

 

"Yeah, I know," Grady says. "I'm still thinking about it." He stops the chair and gets up, then he leaves the room. Derek and Stiles watch him go.

 

***

 

"I hate this," Stiles says. All the kids, including Grady and Carson, are in bed; Derek and Stiles are in Stiles' office. "I fucking hate this."

 

"I know," Derek says. He's sprawled over the couch while Stiles is up and pacing the room. The office door is closed so that no one can listen in, but Stiles knows that Derek is keeping an ear out in case the kids have any problems.

 

"Why?" Stiles asks. "Why did she have to wait until practically the very end before she came back? Why not give Grady more time to come to terms with the whole thing?"

 

"I think her reasoning this time is basically the reasoning she had last time she came back," Derek says. "She wasn't thinking about the feelings of the people she left behind, only her own."

 

"Ugh," Stiles says. "She came back from the dead because she wanted to get married, no matter how that would affect me or Dad. She came back this time because... she needed someone to take care of her as she actually died? No matter what effect it would have on Grady. Christ. Why is she even like this?"

 

"She's a sociopath or a narcissist or something," Derek says. "But this isn't exactly news to us. The fact that she's pulling this kind of stunt shouldn't surprise us at all."

 

"Yeah, that's true," Stiles says. He stops pacing and crawls onto the couch, slotting himself in between Derek's side and the back of the couch. "Do you know if she's even, like, aware of her surroundings? Would she even know if Grady went to see her?"

 

"Perry made it sound like she has some awareness," Derek says. "Whether that'll still be true if Grady decides to see her in the hospital, well, who knows."

 

"I just can't believe that she knew she was sick for years and never tried to reach out to Grady," Stiles says.

 

"I wonder if Perry knew," Derek says.

 

"If he knew and didn't say anything I will kill him myself," Stiles says.

 

"I'll help," Derek says.

 

And this is why Stiles loves him.


	19. Chapter 19

Grady doesn't bring up visiting his mother at any time over the next week. Everyone else has pretty much followed his lead so far. And then Carson goes and ruins it.

 

"I hate to be a moment-ruiner," he says one evening, while they're both huddled in a blanket nest in Grady's bed, "but have you made a decision about going to see your mother?"

 

"Mmph," Grady says, smushing his face into the nearest pillow.

 

"That doesn't sound encouraging," Carson says. There's a movie playing on the laptop sitting at the end of the bed, but neither of them are really watching it. Grady rolls over on his side and presses his back against Carson's nearest leg.

 

"If it was your mother..." he says.

 

"There is a whole world of difference between our mothers," Carson says. "It's not really a fair comparison."

 

"What's it like to have proper parents?" Grady asks.

 

"Probably what it would be like to live with Stiles and Derek full time," Carson says. "Without knowing anything different."

 

"I want to go see her," Grady says. "But I also kinda don't? Like, what would be the point now? I haven't seen her in like... six years?"

 

"I can't decide that for you dude," Carson says. "Maybe you should talk to Stiles about this."

 

"He already said he isn't gonna go see her," Grady says. "I'm pretty sure she's already been dead to him for years. And then even before that he thought she actually was dead." Neither Carson nor Grady know the whole story about Claudia faking her own death and then coming back without warning. It's not something Stiles likes to talk about, and Grady has never felt comfortable asking him about it. Grady himself doesn't remember a whole lot from that time, having only been five years old when he first met Stiles.

 

"Do you think you should talk to him about that?" Carson asks.

 

"He doesn't really like to talk about it," Grady says. "And the situations are totally different, I'm not sure it'd do much good."

 

***

 

_Grady stood beside Claudia in the Starbucks parking lot, staring at a beat-up blue Jeep. Grady poked at the rather large dent in the passenger side door._

 

_"It looks broken," he declared, looking up at his mother. Claudia didn't say anything, a fist pressed against her lips. "Was this Stiles' car?"_

 

_"It used to be mine," Claudia said._

 

_"Was he borrowing it?" Grady asked. "Is that why he's giving it back?"_

 

_"His dad gave it to him, I guess," Claudia said. "He doesn't want it anymore."_

 

_"'Cause it's broken?" Grady asked. He did a quick jog around the Jeep and spotted some more damage. There were dings in a lot of places and one of the taillights was completely busted. A peek through one of the back windows, that Grady had to stand up on his toes to look through, revealed a back seat with a few gouges in it. Grady hopped excitedly._

 

_"Mommy!" He exclaimed. "Stiles really_ does _have a wolf! Just like he said!"_

 

_"He doesn't have a wolf, Grady," Claudia said. "He was just fooling." She looked in through a window on the other side of the Jeep and glanced briefly at the damage to the seat. It had most likely come from a large dog, though Stiles hadn't mentioned one._

 

_"I wanna see the wolf," Grady pouted. "Can I visit Stiles and Derek sometimes?"_

 

_"We'll see," Claudia said._

 

***

 

"Stiles, I have a question." Stiles looks up from his work computer, a pencil over one ear and an open highlighter hanging out of his mouth. He turns around in his chair and spits out the highlighter, waving Grady into the office. Grady inches in and leans against the wall next to the open door.

 

"Sure," Stiles says. "What's up?"

 

"Um..." Grady says. "If I wanted to go see Mom... how would I, like, do that?"

 

"Well..." Stiles says. "You mean how do you get in? You just have to go during visiting hours and ask to see her. One of the nurses will take you to her and let you into the room. Unless you mean how you'll actually get to the hospital, in which case we can get someone to drive you if you don't feel comfortable getting yourself there and back."

 

"So I don't have to make an appointment or anything?" Grady asks.

 

"Not in this case, I don't think," Stiles says. "She's in a palliative care room. Those rooms are usually good for visitation. For obvious reasons. It's possible that the normal visitation hours don't apply there, but you'll have to double-check with Melissa on that." Grady nods absently and avoids Stiles' assessing gaze.

 

"Could I bring people with me?" Grady asks.

 

"If you want," Stiles says. "Are you thinking of going?"

 

"I'm not sure if I really want to," Grady says. "But I think that I'll regret not going more than I would regret going."

 

"I wish there was time for you to work this out properly with a professional or something," Stiles says. "It  worked for me, but Claudia didn't really leave you much time here." Grady frowns. He's heard Stiles and Derek talk about being in therapy before, so he'd be open to the idea of doing it himself. But Stiles is right that his mother hasn't left him much time to work through his feelings on the matter.

 

"You went to therapy," Grady says. "Because of her?" Stiles sighs and leans back in his chair, Grady doesn't move away from the wall.

 

"I've been in therapy more than once for specific incidents," Stiles says. "The first time was when I thought she'd died. It was a pretty traumatic situation all around, and I was still pretty young. Then I was in therapy for supernatural-related traumas. And then when Claudia came back from the dead suddenly, I ended up going back to help me deal with the whole thing. If you think you'll need to talk to a professional about what's all happening right now, we can make that happen."

 

"I'll think about it," Grady says.

 

***

 

School has been a bit strange since breaking up with Skye. Grady's not sure if it's all down to the breakup, or if it's just because a lot of things have happened in a short amount of time.

 

"I'm just saying, what if this is your last chance?" Lauren asks. She's sitting across the lunch table from Grady, and he's still not entirely sure what to think about it. Her and Logan have been hanging out quite a bit in the time since the breakup, and Grady's pretty sure they're into in each other. Logan hasn't said anything about it, but Carson can apparently smell interest.

 

"It technically _is_ his last chance," Logan says.

 

"Why are we discussing this?" Grady asks.

 

"You brought it up," Carson points out.

 

"I regret my life choices," Grady says. Carson nudges him with his shoulder and Grady sticks his tongue out at him. Lauren spots something over Grady's shoulder and then looks down at the table. Grady forces himself to not turn around, pretty sure that Skye and Greta are somewhere behind him and he doesn't want to deal with either of them.

 

Apparently, getting closer to Logan means that Lauren is taking Grady's side in the whole 'trying to trap Grady into a marriage' and it's caused some friction in the friend group. Grady has enough on his plate without jumping into that mess. He's been avoiding Skye ever since their confrontation in the library, and it's working for him.

 

Carson's nose twitches and he moves like he's about to turn around, but Grady grabs him by the arm to stop him. Grady knows that Carson could easily shake him off, but he doesn't. He only gives Grady a look before focusing back on his lunch tray. Logan, however, just makes a face and turns to Lauren.

 

"You can still go sit with them if you want," he says.

 

"And listen to them trash Grady like Skye didn't do anything wrong?" Lauren asks. "No thanks." Grady and Carson share a look. Grady knows that Carson can hear exactly what Skye and Greta are saying if he focuses enough, and Carson has been kind enough to not repeat anything they've said.

 

"I'm sure there's a few valid complaints in there," Grady says, fiddling with his plate of French fries.

 

"There is. I've listened to her complain about you before," Lauren says. "Though now I'm wondering how much I can trust of what she said before. Also I don't like her self-righteous tone now."

 

"You can probably trust a lot of what she's said, I imagine," Grady says. "I'm guessing there's a lot about me being secretive and short-tempered."

 

"That," Lauren says. "And violent." That brings Grady up short. He shares a look with Carson, who looks surprised.

 

"That... one wouldn't be accurate," Carson says slowly. It's true, and Grady will be the first to admit this, that Grady can get a bit heated when his emotions are running high. He's broken his fair share of things while in a rage, and he's torn apart his bedroom (both at his father's house and at the Hale house) more times than he can count. But he's never turned his anger on another person, not physically. And never towards Skye, or anyone else he'd ever dated. He's not even sure he's ever so much as punched a wall in her presence.

 

"Did she mean angry? Maybe?" Logan asks. Lauren shrugged.

 

"Violent is the word she used." She narrows her eyes at Grady. "I always had a hard time believing her because she usually said it so casually, and I know you and I never pegged you as an abuser. And, like, I never noticed any bruises or anything, or her saying anything about wanting to leave or anything. And that made me feel like shit because you're supposed to believe someone when they tell you that they're being abused, not that she said that in those words. But I just..."

 

"You're supposed to believe someone when they tell you they're pregnant too," Grady says. He pushes his tray away. "I promise I never laid a hand on her, for what that's worth." He runs his hands over his face and presses his fingertips into his eyes.

 

"I've seen you punch a few walls," Logan says, "but never a person."

 

"Can we stop talking about this now?" Grady asks.

 

"Right," Logan says. "Now, about your mother."

 

"Ugh," Grady groans.

 

***

 

"Un'el Gray!!" When Grady returns home from school he's met at the door by Kevin, who, upon seeing him, raises his arms to be picked up. He's naked from the waist down, which gives Grady pause because he knows Kevin isn't potty-trained yet. He picks him up anyway.

 

"Who let you loose?" Grady asks him. Kevin spots Carson over Grady's shoulder and starts waving, hitting Grady in the head once before Grady has a chance to dodge. Carson laughs and Grady sticks his tongue out at him. Kevin copies him and Grady hopes that he hasn't just taught the baby something he shouldn't have.

 

They all troop into the house and find John Stilinski in the kitchen. It's an uncommon enough sight to come home to that it immediately puts Grady on alert. John turns when they walk in and raises his eyebrows at the sight of Kevin.

 

"Um, I think you misplaced a child," Grady says.

 

"He was in the playpen," John says, accepting Kevin when Grady hands him over. "He shouldn't've been able to get out." They all hear a cackle from the living room that sounds like Adam.

 

"There's your answer," Grady says.

 

"That boy," John says. He looks at Kevin. "And where's your diaper?" Kevin giggles, but doesn't offer any answers. He just shoves his fingers in his mouth.

 

"If one's loose that means the other one is too," Grady says. John's eyes go wide.

 

"Shoot," he says. "I need to deal with that. Grady, Stiles and Derek are waiting for you upstairs in the office. Carson, let's test out your new super-senses to find Lucy before she gets into something she shouldn’t." Adam cackles again, obviously listening in. Grady grins and John and Carson rush off to the living room, but the grin fades when he starts up the stairs.

 

The door to Stiles' office is closed and Grady can't hear anything from inside the soundproofed room. He knocks on the door. Derek's face is unreadable when he opens the door, which is another red flag.

 

"What happened?" Grady asks. Derek ushers him into the room and closes the door behind them. Stiles is sitting in his desk chair and starts putting away papers when Grady walks in.

 

"Sit down," Stiles says, nodding in the direction of the couch. Grady does what he's told. Derek sits down next to him and Stiles rolls over in his chair once his desktop is clean (or cleaner, Grady has never seen the desk without paper or folders on it).

 

"What happened?" Grady asks again.

 

"We got a call from Melissa earlier," Stiles says. Grady feels his heart skip a beat and Derek places a comforting hand on the back of his neck. "Your mother's not doing too good. The nurses and doctors are making sure that she's comfortable and being looked after, but she really doesn't have much time left. Melissa said giving her another week would probably be being too generous. I don't know if you've made a final decision about whether or not you wanted to go see her one last time, but you've officially run out of time here." Grady can do nothing but stare helplessly at Stiles.

 

"I don't know what to do," he says.

 

"You need to make a decision you can live with," Stiles says. "There's no real right or wrong answer here. You just do what you need to, and you have to decide what that is really quickly."

 

***

 

Grady spends the night in the containment cell in the basement, not sleeping a wink.

 

***

 

"You look like shit," Logan says when he sees Grady in homeroom the next morning.

 

"Fuck off," Grady groans. He sinks into his seat and puts his head on the desk. Carson and Logan stand next to the desk and loom over him. Grady mostly ignores them.

 

"Maybe you should've just stayed home," Carson says.

 

"And do what?" Grady asks.

 

"Did something happen?" Logan asks.

 

"Yes and no," Carson answers when Grady doesn't say anything.

 

Grady must doze off at some point because he actually startles awake when someone kicks his desk. He bolts upright in his chair to see Greta sneer at him as she walks by his desk. Logan shooting her the middle finger behind her back tells Grady that she's the one who kicked the desk.

 

"Seriously?" Carson asks after her. Grady scrubs at his face.

 

"Y'know what?" He says. "Let's go." He gets up from his chair and stalks out of the room.

 

"What?" Logan asks, scrambling to follow. "Wait up!"

 

***

 

The Beacon Hills Memorial lobby is fairly busy when Grady walks in, Logan and Carson trailing awkwardly behind him.

 

"Do you know where to go from here?" Carson asks.

 

"No idea," Grady says. He's still not entirely sure what he's doing here, still not sure he actually _wants_ to be here. But he's here now, he can't turn back yet. No matter how much he wants to.

 

"There's a sign over by the elevators," Logan says, pointing. Carson pulls his phone out, his fingers flying over the screen.

 

"I'm gonna text Melissa," he says.

 

"Dude, she's just gonna make us go back to school," Logan says.

 

"She's not gonna make us go back anywhere," Grady says. "She knows the score."

 

"She said she'll be down soon," Carson says, pointing at his phone screen. The three of them move away from the front entrance and stand out of the way near a group of chairs. Melissa eventually comes out of one of the elevators and spots them in seconds.

 

"Hi, Grady," she says when she walks over. "How are you feeling?"

 

"I just want to get this over with," Grady says, not looking at anyone. He's starting to feel a bit nauseous. Melissa seems to understand, because all she does is nod and lead the way back to the elevator. The ride up is silent and then they're let out into an almost completely silent and empty hallway. Melissa leads the way down the hall, the nurses at the nurses station give her brief smiles as they all walk past.

 

"I don't know how much you know about your mother's condition, Grady," Melissa says.

 

"All I know is that she's dying," Grady says.

 

"She is," Melissa says. "I don't know what she looked like the last time you saw her, but she's going to look very different now. She's been on the decline for a while, so she's looking pretty rough. She also might not be conscious when you go in, and even if she is then it's possible she won't recognize you. Just be prepared for that." Grady swallows hard and reaches out to grab onto Carson's hand before he can think twice about it. It's been six years since Grady last saw his mother, so even if she wasn't sick she'd probably look a lot different now than she had then. He tries not to have any expectations.

 

Mom's room is near the end of the hall, and Melissa stops outside the half-open door. Grady takes a quick peek and all he can see from where he's standing is the end of the bed and the back of an occupied chair. Logan elects to stay out in the hallway with Melissa, but Carson doesn't let go of Grady's hand as Grady inches forward into the room.

 

The curtains in the room are mostly shut, so there is very little sunlight coming in. The overhead lights are dim, so the room is pretty dark compared to the hallway. Grady doesn't look at the bed as he makes his way farther into the room, instead he keeps his focus on the person sitting in the chair at the bedside. It's his father.

 

"Grady," Dad says, looking up. He seems startled to see Grady there, which is fair.

 

"Hey, Dad," Grady says, squeezing Carson's fingers. His hands are sweaty and his heart is thundering against his ribs. There's no sounds coming from the person in the bed, and Grady still doesn't look at her.

 

"Shouldn't you be in school right now?" Dad asks with a frown. As Grady's eyes adjust to the dim lighting it becomes clearer that his father looks to be in pretty rough shape himself. He looks washed out, and his beard suggests that he hasn't shaved in a while. His hair is a mess and his clothes looked wrinkled. Grady wonders if he's even been home since Derek had Mom admitted.

 

"Took the day off," Grady says. "Stiles and Derek told me that I didn't have much time left if I wanted to come here, so... Here I am."

 

"I... didn't really expect that you'd come," Dad says.

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "Me either."

 

"Hi, Carson," Dad says.

 

"Hi, Mr Kirkland," Carson says. The machines next to the bed beep softly, and Dad's clothes rustle as he moves around in his chair. Grady doesn't know if he wants to get closer to the bed, or run out of the room. Carson's hand is warm and solid in his, and he doesn’t make any move to pull it away even though Grady is basically sweating all over it. Grady can hear Logan talking to someone out in the hall, but he can't make out the words.

 

"Do you want to get closer?" Carson whispers to him. Grady shakes his head, but takes a step towards the bed anyway, still not looking up.

 

"She hasn't opened her eyes since maybe the day before yesterday," Dad says suddenly. "But she can still hear us, if you wanted to say something to her." There's a lot that Grady would like to say to his mother, but he very much doubts any of them are appropriate for this setting. Also he's pretty sure the nurses would throw him out if he started yelling. He takes another step forward.

 

"I don't think that's a good idea," Grady says. He looks up at Dad in time to see him wince.

 

"That's fair," he says. "I wish things didn't have to be this way."

 

"Well," Grady says. "Nothing we can do about it now." Another step forward brings him within touching distance of the bed. He can see the outline of his mother's feet and legs under the blankets. He doesn't touch and he still doesn't look up.

 

He's suddenly not sure if he can do this. Maybe he should've taken a page from Stiles' book and just not shown up. But would he be able to live with that? It's been a long time since he wished his mother would come back home to him. He's not sure when, but there had come a point where he'd been convinced that he would just never see his mother again. This whole situation is so unexpected. He leans in towards the bed and rests his free hand on the footboard.

 

"They've got her on some good meds," Dad says. "So she's not in any pain. We're just... waiting now, I guess."

 

"That's good," Grady says. It sounds hollow to his own ears. Carson presses closer to his side, Grady's not sure just what kind of smells or emotions he's picking up in the room. "You don't have to be here for this," he whispers to him.

 

"I'm not here for this," Carson says, just as quiet, "I'm here for you." He squeezes Grady's hand and Grady squeezes back. Grady's not sure if werewolves have courage transferring abilities no one told him about, but that seems to give him the courage he needs to finally look up at the woman lying in the bed.

 

He regrets it almost as soon as he does it because he can't make himself reconcile this wraith of a woman in the bed with the image of his mother he's carried in his head since the last time he saw her when he was 12 years old. He stumbles back into Carson's chest, not sure what to do now and unable to take his eyes off his mother.

 

Mom is scarily thin, the skin on her face pale, except for large purple smudges under both eyes, and pulled tight across her skull. There's a cloth cap on her head, but Grady can still tell that she's completely bald underneath it. The blankets are pulled up to her chin with only one skeletal arm sticking out, the bony hand held tightly in Dad's grip.

 

He's not sure this was a good idea. There's nothing for him to do here, nothing he can really gain from this. But he can't make himself move. Carson wraps an arm around Grady's waist, mostly to hold him up because his knees are wobbling.

 

Grady just stares. He keeps expecting his mother's head to turn and her eyes to open and look at him, but she doesn't move. Her chest rises and falls shallowly as she breathes, but she's otherwise still.

 

Maybe he should've visited her earlier, back when she'd been conscious and could actually interact with him. But it's too late for that now.

 

His mother is dying and he can't deal.

 

"Out," he finally forces out. "Out." Carson pulls Grady backwards from the room, Grady staring at the bed until he's back out in the hallway.

 

***

 

_Grady cackled madly as Claudia chased him around the back yard._

 

_"I'm gonna get 'cha!" She fake-growled. She noticed she was catching up too quickly and slowed down a bit. Not that Grady noticed, still laughing and squealing as he ran. Grady reminded Claudia a lot of Stiles in moments like this. Stiles had loved to run around and be chased, which was great for Claudia when she had the patience for it._

 

_Grady was a lot different from Stiles in some ways, a lot less hyperactive, which made physical play a lot less frequent and therefore more enjoyable. Claudia sometimes wondered about Stiles. He would be about 18 now, out of high school and probably off to college._

 

_"Mommy!" Grady exclaimed with a laugh, snapping Claudia out of her thoughts. Grinning, she put on a burst of speed and immediately caught up to Grady, sweeping the boy up in her arms and continuing to run. Grady squealed as he was swung up, gripping tightly to Claudia's shoulders and laughing again._

 

_Claudia stopped in the center of the yard, panting from running. Grady took a second to swipe his sweaty bangs out of his eyes before he started wriggling to get back down._

 

_"Again!" He demanded. "You won't get me this time!" Claudia put him back down and he immediately darted off. Claudia gave him a few minutes head start before she gave chase again._

 

***

 

Grady wakes up annoyed when his overhead light snaps on. Next to him, Carson sits up, jostling Grady and making him whine in frustration.

 

"Whyyyyyy are you doing this?" Grady asks, trying to burrow back down into his pillow.

 

"Grady," Carson says. His tone makes Grady sit up, his heart starting to race. Something is wrong.

 

Stiles and Derek are standing in the doorway, Stiles' phone held slack in one hand. They watch Grady in silence, Grady watches back.

 

Stiles' jaw is clenched tightly and he doesn't say anything.

 

And Derek doesn't say anything.

 

And Carson doesn't say anything.

 

And Grady doesn't say anything.

 

But he knows.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the gaps between the updates now, I'm not happy about it either

Stiles locks himself in his office and screams at the top of his lungs.

 

Several times.

 

Derek is waiting for him with a bottle of water when he finally decides to come out. His throat is raw and his eyes are dry and Derek instantly wraps him up in a tight hug. Stiles isn't sure what he's feeling right now, but he needs to deal with whatever feelings those are before he can help Grady with his.

 

Grady hasn't left his room since early this morning, after Stiles had gotten the call. Carson has been in and out, looking for drinks and snacks to take back upstairs, but Stiles hasn't seen Grady since he delivered the news.

 

Pack members start to trickle in once Derek gets the news out. Eoin and Firas arrive first with their children, bearing coffee and breakfast. Lydia shows up next, dropped off by Parrish on his way to work. Cora, Kendra, Isaac, Evan, and Kandice show up at the same time in the same car; and their arrival is immediately followed by Dad and Penny. Basically everyone who doesn't have to be at work shows up to provide food and support.

 

"How're you doing, kid?" Dad asks, giving Stiles a hug when he arrives.

 

"I'm processing it," Stiles says. "But I'll be fine. How're you?"

 

"Same," Dad says. "How's Grady?"

 

"He's been in his room with Carson since we told him," Stiles says. "So far we haven't heard anything breaking so I think he's just still in shock or something."

 

"Good that he's got Carson right now," Dad says. "What do you need us to do?"

 

"I don't even know yet," Stiles says. "Maybe entertain the kids for a bit? I'm still waiting to hear from Perry about what he's going to do. Mostly I just need to focus on Grady right now. I don't know what he's going to do once this really sinks in. And he's got Carson now and that's great, but the full moon's coming up soon and Carson will need to focus on that for a bit. So..."

 

"His control has been really good since he turned," Derek says, walking up to them and wrapping his arms around Stiles' waist. "Hey, John."

 

"Hey, Derek," Dad says. "Yeah, I've noticed that. So you think his first full moon will go well?"

 

"I think he'll be fine," Derek says. "Nothing too extreme. I also think his control is tied up with Grady, so we'll see how that all goes now that all this has happened. But I'm not expecting any disaster."

 

"I've got scrambled eggs done!" Isaac calls from the kitchen. Stiles, Derek, and Dad move out of the entrance and into the kitchen where most of the pack has gathered. The TV in the living room, where the kids have all landed, is turned on too loud but everyone seems to be ignoring it for the most part.

 

"Are we feeding the kids now?" Penny asks. She's standing at one of the counters and moving pastries from a take-out box onto some plates.

 

"Ours already ate," Eoin says. "But they wouldn't say no to dessert when you're ready to bring that out."

 

"Has Grady eaten anything yet?" Dad asks.

 

"I don't think so," Derek says. "I'm gonna take some food in to the kids now because I know ours haven't eaten yet."

 

"Mine haven't," Lydia says. She hands Derek a bowl of dry Froot Loops. "Take that with you, Sasha won't eat anything else for breakfast." Derek takes the bowl and adds it to the tray of food Penny hands him and leaves the kitchen, passing Carson, who is on his way into the kitchen.

 

"Hey," Stiles says when he spots him. "How's Grady doing?"

 

"He still hasn't said much," Carson says. "He was texting with Logan earlier, otherwise he's been quiet."

 

"Here." Penny hands Carson a lemon poppyseed muffin on a plate. It's Grady's favourite. "See if he'll eat this."

 

"Thanks," Carson says, then leaves again.

 

***

 

When Grady still hasn't come down by the early afternoon, Stiles goes upstairs to find him.

 

Grady's room is quiet and dark. The only light comes from Carson sprawled across the bed playing an old Nintendo Switch. Grady appears to be a lump under the blankets. Carson looks up at Stiles.

 

"Hey," Stiles says. "How's it going up here?"

 

"Same," Carson says.

 

"You want me to bring you up something to eat?" Stiles asks. "Neither of you ate lunch."

 

"Logan's supposed to be here soon," Carson says. "He's bringing food."

 

"Doesn't Logan have school?" Stiles asks. Carson shrugs and looks back down at the Switch. Grady hasn't spoken or moved this whole time and Stiles is pretty sure that he's actually asleep. He backs out of the room and goes back downstairs. Derek is sitting at the kitchen table, Dad and Penny are outside with the kids. Everyone else has gone back home for the time being.

 

"Got a text from Perry," Derek says.

 

"Ugh," Stiles groans, and heads into the living room to drop down on one of the couches. Derek follows him in, looking down at his phone.

 

"He's trying to organise a wake," he says. "He wants to know what Grady's plans are."

 

"Oh hell," Stiles says. "I'm not asking him about that now." Derek sits down next to Stiles' prone form and pats his nearest ankle. "Did he say anything else about plans? Funeral arrangements or something?"

 

"Not yet," Derek says. "He did say that he doesn't plan on having an actual mass or anything, probably just a burial with a short graveside ceremony. No dates. And Grady still isn't answering his calls or texts."

 

"Hm," Stiles grunts. "I'm pretty sure his phone is off right now anyway."

 

"What do you want me to tell him about the wake?" Derek asks.

 

"Just say that we'll talk to Grady about it later and then let him know," Stiles says. "I don't know how much Grady wants to be involved in all this."

 

"How much do you want to be involved?" Derek asks.

 

"I'll be involved as much as I have to for Grady," Stiles says. "I already attended my mother's funeral when I was 10, that's enough for me, thanks."

 

"What about the wake?" Derek asks.

 

"See previous answer."

 

***

 

Grady finally stumbles downstairs that night, after dinner is done and all the kids are in bed. He's headed for the basement when Stiles spots him and diverts his course to the kitchen table.

 

"Hold on there," Stiles says. "We haven't seen you all day." He pushes Grady into one of the chairs at the table, next to Derek. Grady doesn't say anything and just lets himself be manhandled. Stiles grabs a plate of leftovers from the fridge and sticks it in the microwave. "Is Carson coming down?"

 

"He's 'sleep," Grady mumbles.

 

"So," Stiles says. "How are you holding up?" Grady looks at him blankly and Stiles shrugs. "It looked like you were going down to the basement."

 

"Wanted a change of scenery," Grady says. Stiles nods.

 

"Right on," Stiles says. The microwave beeps and Derek gets up to retrieve the plate. "So we wanted to ask you something, while you're down here." Derek brings the plate – chicken stir-fry – to the table and sets it in front of Grady. Grady looks down at it, and doesn’t make a move to accept the fork Derek hands him.

 

"We don't expect you to eat all of it," Derek says. "But at least take a few bites so we know you've eaten something." Grady takes the fork and spears a piece of onion with it.

 

"What do you want to talk about?" He asks.

 

"Your dad has been talking with Derek," Stiles says. "He was looking for you to get your opinions on a few things concerning your mother's... arrangements." Grady doesn't look up from his plate, just shoves a piece of chicken in his mouth and chews slowly.

 

"I don't really have any opinions about that right now," Grady says.

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "I figured. But, just so you can think this over, he's planning a wake and a graveside funeral ceremony. He was asking about your plans."

 

"I'm not planning anything," Grady says. "I mean, there's nothing going on for me this week. I'm not going to school?"

 

"Nope," Stiles says.

 

"When's the full moon?" Grady asks.

 

"Monday night," Stiles says.

 

"I don't want to miss that," Grady says.

 

"I'll let Perry know," Derek says. "Try to eat a bit more." Stiles glances down at Grady's plate; there's only a few bites missing. Grady eats a piece of carrot. Derek pulls out his phone and starts typing. Thundering footsteps pound down the stairs and then Carson is barreling into the room. Stiles ignores the noise and glowing eyes and asks him if he wants something to eat.

 

***

 

Claudia's obituary is in the paper the next morning. Stiles watches Derek's eyebrows climb higher and higher as he reads it over breakfast. Stiles tries not to worry too much as he cuts the crusts off Adam's toast, but he's pretty sure the kids are picking up on his anxiety. Emily is pressed in close to his side with her arms wrapped around his waist.

 

"You won't have time to eat breakfast if you're stuck to me all morning," Stiles says.

 

"Ethan ate all the good cereal," Emily grouses.

 

"No I didn't!" Ethan exclaims. Stiles looks over at the table where Ethan is sitting in front of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

 

"There's other cereal in the cupboard," Stiles says. Emily only whines at him. Stiles rolls his eyes and waddles back to the table to hand Adam his toast. Adam frowns at him.

 

"There's no jelly on this," he says.

 

"Here," Derek says, putting down the newspaper and moving closer to help. Stiles snatches the paper from the table and flips through to the obituary section, reading quickly.

 

"Dedicated to her children?" He asks incredulously.

 

"Who's that?" Emily asks, trying to look over Stiles' arm.

 

"No one," Stiles says. "Eat your breakfast or you'll go to school hungry." Emily grumbles but does as she's told, glaring at Ethan as she goes to get a new box of cereal from the cupboard.

 

"Banana?" Kevin asks from his high chair. Stiles goes to get him one, still looking down at the paper.

 

"I can't believe they even put our actual names in here," he says. "Did Perry tell you anything about this?"

 

"Nope," Derek says. "That's enough jelly, Adam."

 

"More," Adam says.

 

"No," Derek says. Adam whines and throws himself to the floor and crawls under the table. Derek just closes the jelly jar and focuses on his own breakfast.

 

"At least it doesn’t mention you and the kids, I guess," Stiles says. He scans the obit again.  _ Dedicated mother to her two children,  Mieczysław (30) and  Grzegorz (18) _ . "He didn't even get my age right. Who greenlit this?"

 

"He spelled your name right," Derek points out. "So there's something."

 

"Banana!" Kevin shrieks.

 

"Dedicated mother," Stiles says. Derek hums. Stiles slices a banana for Kevin. Emily and Ethan eat their cereal and Derek gets up to get ready to drive them to school. Adam finally crawls out from under the table.

 

"The boys are up," Derek says, nodding up at the ceiling. Stiles rips out the obituary pages and shoves them in the garbage disposal. Derek sighs at him.

 

"Me too!" Adam exclaims , mouth covered in grape jelly . Stiles hands him the rest of the newspaper. 

 

***

 

Adam is colouring at the kitchen table and the baby twins are down for their morning nap when Grady and Carson make their way downstairs. Grady looks a lot better this morning, less shell-shocked, though still a bit subdued. Carson leads him to the table and then starts poking around the kitchen to get him something to eat. Stiles, picking wet bits of paper out of the sink, is reminded of the early days of his and Derek's relationship and tries not to smile.

 

"There's still bacon in the fridge if either of you are interested in frying it," he says. Carson looks over at Grady and then starts going through the fridge.

 

"I turned my phone back on," Grady says.

 

"Oh?" Stiles asks.

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "Dad texted this morning. Said the wake is Friday night, and then the burial is on Saturday morning." Today is Wednesday.

 

"Who's burying?" Adam asks.

 

"No one you know," Stiles says. He's struck by a weird feeling at that. This is technically Adam's  grandmother he's talking about here. Adam's grandmother who he's never met , and will never meet (Stiles doesn't feel as bad about that as he thinks he should) . As far as the Hale-Stilinski kids are concerned, their only grandmothers are Penny and Melissa.

 

"I guess you won't be going," Grady says. Stiles turns around to find Grady staring right at him. Carson throws them both a glance as he starts putting bacon strips in a frying pan, but doesn't say anything.

 

"No," Stiles says. "You don't have to go either if you don't want. But if you do go and need someone there with you we can sort that out. Derek can go with you, I can go and wait outside. Whatever you want."

 

"I'll go with him," Carson says. Stiles doesn't doubt that.

 

"Can I go?" Adam asks.

 

"No," Stiles says. "Maybe you can have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house."

 

"Ooh!" Adam exclaims. Stiles know that no matter who ends up going to the wake, it'll be better if the kids are out of the way somewhere with a less heavy atmosphere. Plus, Dad could probably use the distraction.

 

***

 

Carson's parents turn up around lunch time, wondering why they got a call from the school about Carson's absences. They soften a bit when they find out about Claudia, and Mrs Azuma wraps Grady in a tight hug that lasts for several minutes at least. Derek eventually takes them aside to talk to them about the full moon and what they should expect, and Stiles takes the chance to sit with Grady and show him the obituary on the funeral home's website.

 

"Dedicated mother?" Is all Grady has to say about it.


	21. Chapter 21

"Would a bowtie be too much, do you think?" Logan asks. Grady and Carson squint at the laptop webcam, which is the closest they can get to eye-contact over video chat.

 

"I wasn't aware they had dress-codes in bowling alleys," Carson says.

 

"Scared to get side-eyed by the maître d' when he brings you to your reserved lane?" Grady asks.

 

"Shut up," Logan mutters. "I want to make a good impression."

 

"Dude," Grady says. "Lauren already knows who you are. She's known you for years. The Good Ship First Impression has already sailed."

 

"She knows you and still agreed to date you," Carson says. "Just show up clean and in a decent outfit. I'm pretty sure she already knows not to set her expectations too high."

 

"You guys suck," Logan whines.

 

"But we're not wrong," Grady says.

 

"Does this mean we get to roast Grady's outfit for the wake later?" Logan asks.

 

"My dad'll be lucky if I show up sober and wearing pants," Grady deadpans.

 

"What do you even wear to wakes?" Logan asks. He picks a t-shirt up from out-of-frame and sniffs it. Then he throws it back out-of-frame. Grady leans back in his desk chair and crosses his arms behind his head, narrowly missing Carson, who's leaning on the chair back.

 

"Shit, I dunno," Grady says. "Slacks?"

 

"You don't even own slacks," Carson says. Grady swats him. A knock on Grady's bedroom door distracts all of them.

 

"I hope you two are getting ready in there," Stiles calls through the closed door. "Derek's leaving as soon as the kids are ready." The reminder of exactly how close the wake is kills any lighthearted mood in the room. It starts at 6pm; it's now four o'clock.

 

"You gonna be alright tonight?" Logan asks.

 

"Probably not," Grady says. "But Carson'll be there, and Derek promised to hang around just in case."

 

"Stiles isn't going after all?" Logan asks. He holds a t-shirt up to the camera for approval, then starts changing at Carson's nod.

 

"Nope," Grady says. "He's staying home tonight. Lydia's coming over and they're going to do smart things tonight. Or something."

 

"Sounds wild," Logan says.

 

***

 

Lydia shows up at the house just as Derek, Grady, Carson, and the kids are on their way out the door. Grady briefly wonders if they planned it like that.

 

"Auntie Lydia!" Ethan exclaims. "Daddy, I want to stay here with Auntie Lydia!"

 

"Not tonight," Derek says, ushering Ethan out of the house. "Auntie Lydia and Tata are going to be getting some work done tonight. It'll be much more fun and Grandpa and Grandma's."

 

"But!" Ethan pouts, but Derek just moves him along. Grady ends up with a final hug from Stiles before he leaves.

 

"You sure you'll be alright?" Stiles asks.

 

"I'll be fine," Grady says. "Will you?"

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. He ruffles Grady's hair and sends him on his way. Derek and Carson help the kids get settled into the mini-van, letting Grady get the front passenger seat. The ride to John's house is more boisterous than Grady feels is appropriate for the situation; although, to be fair to the kids, they don't know what's going on. Derek has to threaten to turn around once when Adam gets into a screaming match with Lucy. Grady notices Carson wincing in the rear-view mirror and definitely doesn't envy his new sensitive wolf hearing.

 

The van is totally quiet once the kids are dropped off, and the drive to Beacon Heights is completely silent.

 

The wake is being held in one of Beacon Heights' funeral homes, and they get there a half-hour before starting time. The parking lot is still pretty empty, but Grady has Derek park near the edge of the parking lot, closest to the exit, so they can avoid being boxed in by other cars. Grady isn't even sure how many people will show up, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

 

"So I'm going to wait out in the lobby," Derek says. "I don't want to get in anyone's way in there, but I'll be able to hear everything, so just say so and we'll leave."

 

"Yeah," Grady says. He doesn't make any move to get out of the van. The three of them sit there silently until another car pulls into the lot. Grady doesn't recognize the people getting out. He watches them, a man and a woman, until they enter the funeral home. Then he gets out of the van.

 

Derek and Carson are solid presences at his back as Grady leads the way in. The lobby is empty of people, but there is a sign with directions to the different viewing rooms. Apparently there is more than one wake happening tonight. Mom's wake is happening in a room down the hall called the 'Green Room'. Derek sits down on a bench seat in the lobby while Grady and Carson continue to the Green Room. Dad meets them at the door.

 

"There you are," he says, handing them each a laminated card. "How're you doing?"

 

"How do you think?" Grady asks. Dad doesn't say anything. Grady hasn't seen him since that day in the hospital, Dad doesn't look much better now than he had then. He's clean-shaven and nicely-dressed, but still pale and tragic-looking. He's looking at Grady with teary red-rimmed eyes and Grady wants to punch him. He walks past him and into the room instead.

 

The first thing that Grady notices in the room is the table in the back covered in flowers and pictures, with an ornate box sat in the center of it all. Somehow he'd never thought to ask whether or not Mom had been cremated, but right now he's glad there isn't a body in a coffin for him to deal with.

 

"Should we go up there?" Carson asks in a low voice. Grady shrugs. This is his first wake; he's not really sure of the etiquette here. There are a few other people in the room, and some of them are standing near the table looking through the pictures. Grady doesn't recognize a lot of them; some he's pretty sure are relatives on his father's side. He and Carson move out of the way and sit down on two of the chairs that are lining the walls on both sides of the room. He looks down at the card that Dad had given him.

 

There's a poem on it; something about grief and celebrating life that Grady would expect to find on this sort of thing. Turning the card over reveals Mom's name, birth and death dates, and a photo Grady has never seen before. Underneath 'Claudia Kirkland' in big bold letters, there's a picture of a woman sitting on a beach wearing a floppy sunhat and a beaming smile. It definitely looks like his mother, but not in a way Grady ever remembers seeing.

 

Grady has no idea where Mom went after she'd left him, and he has no idea what she's been up to the whole time she's been gone. Six years and she'd never once said anything one way or the other. Grady sometimes wonders about that; where she'd been, if she'd stayed in one place the whole time, how close those places were. She'd never visited, not that Grady knew of anyway. She'd certainly never visited him. He'd always known that his parents were in contact with each other, and whenever Dad went away for any length of time Grady assumed that they were either together or trying to connect in some way.

 

In the beginning, and especially during the whole year that Dad had spent away, Grady had often made himself sick picturing the two of them together without him and not even caring that he was missing them. Luckily he'd always had Stiles and Derek to care for him and love him.

 

"I wonder when this picture was taken," Carson says, studying his own card. Grady shoves his card in his pocket and leans over to hide his face in Carson's shoulder for a while, sighing when Carson's hand comes up and starts running through his hair.

 

***

 

_"Perry, you seriously can't keep doing this," Stiles ground out, about a second away from throwing his phone against the nearest wall. It wouldn’t solve anything, but it would probably make him feel better for a minute or two. Derek was sprawled across the office couch massaging his temples, the perfect image of 'Man With A Stress Headache', though Stiles knew it would take more than something like this to give a werewolf an actual headache._

_"I need to find my wife, Stiles," Perry said._

_"Bullshit!" Stiles exclaimed. "You need to be here for your son! Claudia is a grown woman and if she wants to make the decision to go then she can stay gone. Grady needs you more than she does."_

_"Come on, Stiles," Perry said. "You're telling me that if Derek up and left that you wouldn't go after him?" That got a growl from Derek. Stiles looked over to find a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him._

_"Derek would never do that because he is dedicated to me and our family," Stiles said. "He's a good spouse and parent and actually_ cares _about our feelings. He's not narcissist that would fuck off the second he got bored."_

_"That's your mother you're talking about," Perry said._

_"She hasn't been my mother since I found out what she did," Stiles said. "And now she's done almost the same thing to Grady. I can tell you right now, that shit hurts, and keeps hurting. You running off after her doesn't help Grady at all. It just makes things worse."_

_"I have to find her," Perry said. Stiles hung up on him and threw the phone on his desk. He got out of the chair and went over to the couch, throwing himself down on top of Derek. Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles and held him close._

_"I hate him," Stiles said. Derek could feel hot wetness against the side of his neck where Stiles had pressed his face. "I hate them both. So much."_

 

***

 

"Oh, Greg! I almost didn't recognize you!" Carson jostles Grady until Grady sits up. There's an older, slightly familiar  looking  woman standing in front of the two of them. She's looking at Grady, eyes red and teary, and dabbing at her cheeks with a crumpled up tissue.

 

"Um," Grady says. "I'm not Greg. Sorry." The woman gives him a confused smile. Grady squints his eyes at her. He gropes around in his mind for a name, or something, but he just can't remember who this woman is. There's a vague resemblance between her and Dad, so it's possible that she's a relative he hasn't seen in a while. Or ever, possibly.

 

"Yes, you're Perry's son," the woman says. "Greg." There is a very brief moment where Grady panics and actually thinks that his father has another child out there somewhere called Greg, a child that this woman has met before. It's not totally out of the realm of possibility, considering Stiles. A squeeze to his thigh, courtesy of Carson, brings Grady back to reality.

 

"Grady," Grady says. "My name is Grady. Not Greg."

 

"Huh," the woman says. Grady still can't think of who she could be. Maybe an aunt? "I was sure your name was Greg."

 

"Nope," Grady says. He hopes that the woman will move on soon. So of course she sits down in the empty chair next to his. She rests a hand on his shoulder and he has to fight down the urge to slap it away.

 

"I was so sorry to hear about your mother," she says, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "You must be so heartbroken now." Grady is about a second away from just crawling into Carson's lap for protection. The slight pricking sensation against his thigh, where Carson's hand is still pressed, tells Grady that Carson is clearly picking up on his distress and want s to do something about it. Grady's pretty sure that his emotional state is no good reason for Carson clawing up random old women. Luckily, Dad chooses that second to wander by.

 

"Perry!" The woman exclaims, and pops up from the chair. Grady heaves a sigh of relief and sinks back against Carson, suddenly very tired.

 

"Aunt Yvonne," Dad says. The name doesn't ring any bells for Grady; maybe he really hasn't met this woman before. He wonders if he should feel bad about not knowing more about his relatives outside of Stiles. Aunt Yvonne wraps Dad up in a hug that looks so tight it makes Grady wince.

 

"I was so sorry to hear about Claudine!" She exclaims. "You must be devastated!" She lets Dad go and Grady sees him wipe at his eyes.

 

"Yes," Dad says. "It was such a shock. But we're dealing."

 

"Such a shame your son had to lose his mother so young," Aunt Yvonne says. "The mother-son bond is very important. I don't know what my Jason would do if he lost me now." Both Dad and Aunt Yvonne turn sad eyes on Grady, who just stares back at them, biting his lips to keep from shouting.

 

"Yeah," Dad says. "It's a shame." Grady can't tell if he's agreeing with Aunt Yvonne about it being terrible that Grady has lost his mother at 18, or if he's thinking about the reality that Grady has essentially been motherless since he was 12. Stiles really had the right idea about skipping this altogether. "Is Jason here?"

 

"No," Aunt Yvonne says, wiping at her face again with the tissue. "He and the wife took the children on a trip for the week, and they couldn't cancel to come back for the services." Dad nods. Grady greatly envies Jason right now. "When I lost my Frederick," Aunt Yvonne continues, voice trembling. Grady pushes at Carson until he gets the hint and they both scramble out of their seats and try to get lost in the crowd of people that had suddenly gathered when Grady wasn't paying attention. It's not long before they're accosted by another mourner.

 

"Grady!" A young man exclaims. And at least this one gets his name right. "How are you?" He tackles Grady in a surprise hug and Grady has to wait for it to run its course. This is at least a relative he recognizes, though he can't remember his name. It's a cousin, probably closer to Stiles' age.

 

"Hi," Grady says.  "I'm good." He pauses. "How are you?"

 

"Kinda shook, if I'm honest," the cousin says. "I just saw Claudia a few months ago. And, like, yeah, she looked really sick. But I didn't think she would decline this fast. It's wild."

 

"A few months ago?" Grady asks, dumbfounded.

 

"Alan!" A young woman steps up to give the cousin a hug. This is finally a relative Grady knows; it's his cousin Olivia, who is his second cousin and the only relative he has regular - if minimal - contact with on Facebook. Although he wouldn't go so far as to call them actual friends.

 

"How did you see her a few months ago?" Grady asks, still stuck on this detail.

 

"She was living in my apartment building up in San Francisco for most of last year," Alan says, detaching himself from Olivia. "I'm surprised you never came to visit her, actually, since you don't live too far away. She sometimes talked about you and how she wished you weren't too busy to see her."

 

"Grady!" Olivia exclaims. "I didn't see you there! How are you doing?" She slings an arm over his shoulders. "Hey, you never told me you had a brother. Is he here?" Grady doesn't say anything to either of them; his jaw is clenched so tightly he can feel his teeth grinding together.

 

"Oh, yeah," Alan says. "I read that in the obituary. From Claudia's first marriage, right? I think Claudia mentioned him once, something about how he cut off contact with her. Shame. What kind of kid cuts his own mother out of his life like that?" There's a faint ringing in Grady's ears that he should probably find worrying. Alan and Olivia are still talking, but Grady can't really understand what they're saying. A third person joins the little group, a complete stranger, and reaches out to try to put a hand on Grady's shoulder. Grady jerks backward and ends up knocking into someone standing behind him.

 

"Hey!" the person cries. Grady ignores them. He becomes aware that he's breathing heavily, and that there seems to be a growing lack of air in the room. Alan and Olivia are looking at him strangely now.

 

"Hey, are you alright?" Alan asks, sounding like he's speaking through glass. Grady tries to speak, but he can't make his jaw move. He curls his hands into fists. Then Carson is grabbing him by the upper arms and marching him out of the room. They meet Derek at the door.

 

"Let's go," Derek says.

 

"Hey! Wait!" Dad's voice rings out from inside the Green Room. Derek stops and turns back, but Carson continues pushing Grady down the hall, through the lobby, and out the door into the cool night air.

 

***

 

Grady doesn't remember much about the drive back to the house. Just a lot of screaming and ranting and Carson's arms around him, pinning him in place.

 

He doesn't remember arriving back at the house at all. He doesn't remember getting from the mini-van to the front door to the basement containment cell.

 

Doesn't remember whatever it is he did to turn his knuckles and fingers into red, scraped, messes.

 

Doesn't remember screaming so long and so loud that his throat feels raw.

 

***

 

Grady snaps back into awareness very suddenly and seemingly unprompted.

 

He immediately recognizes his surroundings and knows where he is, which is a plus.

 

The weight on his back pinning him to the floor and keeping him restrained is a bit of a mystery, though.

 

"Ungh?" He tries to form words but only ends up making sounds. The weight on his back shifts.

 

"Are you back with us?" It's Carson.

 

"Mmph," Grady says. Carson rolls off his back and Grady instantly feels cold. He flips himself over and blinks his eyes up at the ceiling. It's dark in the basement aside from some dim lighting coming from somewhere outside the cell. The door to the cell slides open and Stiles and Derek come in.

 

"How're you feeling?" Stiles asks, leaning down and handing Grady a bottle of water. Grady takes the bottle and props himself up on his elbows so he can drink from it without drowning himself.

 

"I feel like I've been hit by a small truck," he says once he's done.

 

"I think those are called 'cars'," Carson says.

 

"You be quiet," Grady says.

 

"So I guess the wake was maybe not the best idea," Stiles says, sitting down next to Grady and taking the bottle from him. Derek crouches down nearby, gaze running over everyone.

 

"Maybe not?" Grady asks. "I don't think I really got anything out of it. Nothing helpful, at least."

 

"What happened?" Stiles asks. Grady locks eyes with Derek, who must have heard everything Grady did. Derek just blinks at him. Grady turns back to Stiles.

 

"Mom has been living in San Francisco for most of last year," he says. Stiles sucks in a sharp breath. "Someone said something about it being sad that you cut her out of your life. It's apparently also sad that I lost my mother so young."

 

"There's a lot to unpack there," Stiles says.

 

"It's like these people didn't even _know_ her," Grady says. "And they're all there because they think it's such a shame that she's gone. I don't think _I_ even think that." He pauses. "She told them that I was too busy to go up to San Francisco to see her this whole time." Stiles sighs.

 

"There's not a lot to say to that, is there?" He asks. "We already knew she was a manipulator. Are you still going to the burial tomorrow?"

 

"Yeah," Grady says. "I'm gonna see this through to the end and then I can start putting it behind me." Stiles squeezes his shoulder.

 

***

 

_"Stiles, what did Mom tell you before she left you and your dad?" Grady asked._

_"She didn't tell me anything," Stiles says. "She faked her own death."_

_"That's kind of extra, isn't it?"_

_"Probably. I try not to think about it too closely, honestly."_

 

***

 

Grady is surprised that he manages to get any sleep the night of the wake.

 

At least, he hopes that the missing time overnight was because of sleep.

 

He wakes up Saturday morning still in the containment cell. Carson is on the floor beside him, still asleep. The morning light coming in through the window is soft and gives everything a peaceful glow. Which is a weird thing to think about a literal cage in a basement, but whatever.

 

Grady watches Carson's sleeping face. He remembers the few times he'd woken up next to Skye after they'd spent a night together, though he can't really remember when that had happened last. He remembers the feeling of comfort of waking up next to someone he really cared about. It's the same feeling that settles over him now, and it gives him another reason to delay starting his day for a little while.

 

He slowly reaches out a hand and smooths it down Carson's bangs, which have fluffed up a bit during the night. Carson's eyes open and Grady freezes, hand still in Carson's hair.

 

They blink at each other. Carson closes his eyes. Grady doesn't move his hand.

 

***

 

Grady can't make himself eat anything, so he skips breakfast. His stomach is in knots and he doesn't think it would help matters if he ended up throwing up on his mother's grave. He's pretty sure it wouldn't be worth the bad karma.

 

The burial and graveside ceremony starts at 10, Grady is ready to go by 9. Once again, Derek is playing chauffeur. He drops Stiles off at John's house to wait with the kids, then takes Grady and Carson to the Beacon Heights cemetery.

 

It's still a bit early when they arrive at the cemetery, but Grady doesn't want to wait in the car so he spends some time wandering through rows of gravestone. Carson follows a few paces behind him, Derek waits in the mini-van.

 

"This one says 'Good Luck, Good Riddance' on it," Carson says at one point. Grady turns to find him bent at the knees in front of a simple marble rectangle, pointing at the front of it.

 

"Seems appropriate," Grady says, which is the first thing he's said all morning. He turns around and keeps walking, he can hear Carson following a few steps behind him.

 

They eventually wander over to where a make-shift tent is set up around some newer looking headstones. There's a small crowd standing under it; a lot smaller than the crowd from the wake. Grady recognizes a few people as he gets closer. Dad is there, of course, along with Aunt Yvonne and Alan and Olivia, there's a vaguely priest-looking person there, as well as a few other people who are vaguely recognizable.

 

"Grady," Dad says when he spots him. He waves Grady over, but Grady doesn't go to him. He hangs back near the edge of the crowd, not willing to get any closer than he has to. Dad frowns at him, but Grady can't bring himself to care. He sees Aunt Yvonne lean over to whisper something in Dad's ear, and Grady looks away. The person standing directly in front of Grady turns around.

 

"There's still room to stand next to your dad if you want," he says.

 

"I don't want," Grady says, looking away. He's not sure how comfortable he is with all these strangers knowing who he is when he has no idea who most of them are. The man shoots him a confused look and turns back around. Grady checks the time on his phone, it's a little after 10.

 

"Everyone's here now," Dad says to the priest. Officiator? Whoever he is, he nods at Dad and then stands next to the hole in the ground where they will eventually put Mom's ashes. The officiator begins to speak and Grady just lets the words wash over him, not taking anything in. The box with Mom's ashes is sitting on a little table next to the hole, and Grady finds that he can't make himself look away from it.

 

His mother is in that box, what's left of her, anyway. It hits Grady in a way that's hard for him to describe.

 

This is the last time that he's going to be in the same place as his mother. The last time she'll have a physical presence.

 

She's been gone for six years already, and Grady'd long come to the conclusion that he'd probably never see her again anyway, but this feels very permanent and unexpected.

 

Now there's no chance at all for any reconnecting.

 

There won't be any scenario a few years down the line where Grady will run into her somewhere and she'll realize what she did wrong and try to make it up to him. Or that she'll seek him out one day in the future to see what kind of man he's become without her. Or that _he'll_ seek _her_ out one day to tell her about the life he's made for himself and rub all his successes in her face because she'll have had nothing to do with it.

 

There won't be any opportunity to sit down with her and ask her why.

 

Why did she leave him?

 

Why did she leave Stiles?

 

Why did she have another child when she'd already left the first and obviously had no interest in children?

 

Did she know she would do this again?

 

Did she plan it?

 

Why wasn't he good enough for her?

 

***

 

The box goes into the hole.

 

Dad takes a shovelful of dirt from a nearby pile and throws it into the hole.

 

Grady hears it hitting the box, the sound unusually loud.

 

And then he falls apart.


	22. Chapter 22

Stiles is anxious and jittery and bouncing around his father's living room. He knows he's being annoying and acting worse than his kids, but he can't help it.

 

Dad is sitting in his armchair, pretending to read the newspaper in his lap, and not saying anything. The tension in the room is thick and all the kids have already had enough and disappeared to less fraught rooms in the house. Stiles doesn't blame them.

 

He has no idea how long the burial is supposed to go on for, so he's not sure how much longer he has to wait to find out how it went. Or how long he has until this whole situation is finally over. He remembers Claudia's first funeral, back when he was 10, as being particularly long and hard to sit through. Although, they'd had a full funeral mass for her at the time.

 

"Daddy's back!" Adam suddenly runs from the kitchen and into the front hall towards the door. Stiles scrambles over to the living room window, which faces out into the street, and peers out through the curtains. The mini-van is just pulling into the driveway. Stiles keeps watching as Derek gets out and hurries to the front door of the house. He leaves the van running.

 

"Shit," Stiles says.

 

"What?" Dad asks. Stiles doesn't answer as he runs to the door, opening it before Derek even has a chance to ring the bell.

 

"What happened?" Stiles asks. Adam squirms past Stiles and attaches himself to Derek's leg.

 

"Grady had a bit of a meltdown," Derek says, absently palming the back of Adam's head. "I dropped him and Carson off at the house first. They seemed alright when I left but I don't want to leave them alone for long. Are the kids ready now, or should we get them later?"

 

"We're making pizza," Adam says, frowning.

 

"You two go on ahead," Dad says, coming out of the living room. "Me and Pen can drop the kids off later."

 

"Are you sure?" Stiles asks him. "You already had them all night and all morning."

 

"It's fine, we enjoy having them," Dad says. "Leave the car seats. Just let us know when you want us to bring them back."

 

"What's wrong with Uncle Grady?" Emily asks, suddenly in the hallway.

 

"Uncle Grady is feeling a bit sad," Derek says. "So he wants to be alone right now. You can see him later."

 

"We'll make some extra pizza for him," Emily says. "Grandma! We need pizza for Uncle Grady!" She runs back to the kitchen.

 

"I'll go get the car seats," Derek says. He goes back out to the van, Adam still clinging to his leg. Stiles rakes a hand through his hair as he turns back to Dad.

 

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Stiles says. "Maybe he shouldn't've gone. He didn't react well to the wake."

 

"Maybe," Dad says. "But maybe this was all for the best. Maybe this is what closure looks like on him. You had some pretty extreme reactions about some of the things your mother did." Stiles nods absently; thinks of his old blue Jeep – formerly Claudia's old blue Jeep - that he'd treated with such care until the day he'd taken a baseball bat to it.

 

"Fair enough," Stiles says. Derek returns from the van carrying a car seat in each hand. Adam is trailing after him, lugging his own car seat.

 

"I'm helping," he says, marching into the house.

 

"Yes you are," Stiles says. Derek hands his car seats to John and goes to say goodbye to the kids before Stiles finally drags him out of the house.

 

"Tell me everything," Stiles demands as soon as they're on the road.

 

"Not much to tell," Derek says. "I stayed in the van the whole time, so I didn't see anything until Carson brought Grady out to the parking lot."

 

"Did he wreck anything at the actual service?" Stiles asks.

 

"That's the thing," Derek says. "He didn't wreck anything anywhere. He was just sobbing the whole time. I couldn't hear much from the service, I was trying not to listen, but I heard him crying and that's when I knew something was wrong."

 

"Wow, that's... something," Stiles says. Because it is. Over the years, Stiles has gotten used to Grady throwing tantrums and making scenes by yelling and raging and throwing things around. He's pretty sure that he's never seen Grady actually cry over anything that wasn't an injury. This is uncharted territory for them. "What do you think it means?"

 

"Not sure," Derek says. "Could be that that there's no anger left. Or that he's finally able to just let himself cry about it." Stiles reaches over and grasps Derek's hand, slotting their fingers together. Both of them are familiar with dealing with grief, and Derek especially has experience with grief manifesting as anger until suddenly it doesn't.

 

They don't speak as they pull up to the house. Stiles is sure that Derek can hear or sense what is going on inside, but neither his expression nor his stance are setting off any alarms so Stiles isn't too worried. He still doesn't waste any time getting out of the van and into the house.

 

"They're upstairs," Derek says, when Stiles moves towards the basement door. Stiles turns on his heel, nearly brains himself against the nearest wall, and heads for the stairs. Derek follows close behind him.

 

It's all quiet on the second floor, in a way that usually only happens late at night when everyone is asleep , or when the house is empty. The door to Grady's room is closed and Stiles knocks on it softly before easing it open. The curtains are partially drawn, not allowing much light in and leaving the room pretty dim. It's easy to make out the two boys on the bed, one of whom raises his head when Stiles and Derek walk in.

 

"He's asleep," Carson says.

 

"How's he doing otherwise?" Stiles asks. He approaches the bed and is able to see Grady's face in the weak light. His cheeks look damp and his eyelashes are clumped together wetly.

 

"He went straight from crying to passed out as soon as we got here," Carson says. "He was quiet at the burial until the crying started."

 

"Did someone say something to him?" Stiles asks.

 

"No," Carson says. "I think he just reached his limit. Or something. I've never seen him do this before."

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "We'll let him sleep for now, then try to get him to eat something after. The kids are making him a pizza. We'll be in my office if you need us." Carson nods. Stiles and Derek leave the room, closing the door behind them.

 

***

 

Dad and Penny bring the kids back after Stiles calls to give them the all-clear. They come bearing a lot of homemade pizza.

 

"Wow, you guys really went all out," Stiles says when Ethan and Emily present Saran-wrapped plates full of pizza slices as soon as they walk through the door.

 

"We are very good pizza makers," Ethan informs him.

 

"You certainly are," Stiles says. "Is there enough for everyone?"

 

"Yup!" Emily chirps. "We made a lot."

 

"I did too!" Adam exclaims, running up behind the twins with his own plate. "See?"

 

"I see," Stiles says.

 

"How's Grady doing?" Dad asks, coming in with Kevin on one hip.

 

"He's been asleep since he got back from the cemetery," Stiles says. He starts ushering the kids towards the kitchen. Derek must be in there waiting for them because Stiles soon hears a round of 'Look at all the pizza, Daddy!' with Derek providing the appropriate approving noises. Penny comes up behind Dad bearing Lucy and more pizza.

 

"Seriously, how much pizza did you guys make?" Stiles asks.

 

"We may have gotten a little carried away," Penny says, handing Lucy over when she threatens to jump out of her arms. They enter the kitchen to find Derek trying to fit platefuls of pizza into the already crowded fridge.

 

"Maybe if you throw away everything in this drawer they'll all fit in there," Ethan is saying, pointing to the vegetable drawer.

 

"Well," Derek says. "We shouldn't throw away good food. But if you're interested in eating a whole bag of carrots for supper..."

 

"Yuck!" Ethan, Emily, and Adam cry all at once.

 

"Personally, I wouldn't mind a whole turnip to myself," Stiles says, grinning.

 

"That's gross, Tata," Emily informs him.

 

"But healthy," Stiles says.

 

"Uncle Grady!" Adam exclaims. Everyone turns to the kitchen doorway, where Grady and Carson are standing awkwardly. Grady looks a bit out of it, still half-asleep and looking around the kitchen like he can't really tell what's happening. His eyes are red and slightly swollen, and his face his pale. Carson is hovering behind him like a nervous parent. Derek and Stiles share a look.

 

"I'm pretty sure neither of you had lunch," Stiles says.

 

"And Grady didn't have breakfast," Derek adds.

 

"Wasn't hungry," Grady mumbles, voice hoarse.

 

"Right," Stiles says. "And now it's after lunch and you're going to eat something. We have some homemade pizza here you can eat here with the kids."

 

"We already had pizza for lunch," Emily says. Stiles blinks at her, then at the full plates Derek is still trying to fit into the fridge, then over at Penny.

 

"Carried away," she says with a shrug. Dad laughs.

 

Derek herds the kids into the living room to distract them with Netflix while Stiles installs Grady and Carson at the kitchen table. Dad and Penny take over the task of fridge Tetris while Stiles warms some pizza up in the microwave.

 

"There is a disturbing amount of juice boxes in here," Dad says, peering inside the fridge.

 

"They were on sale," Stiles says. "Take some out, the kids'll drink some now."

 

"Is there apple juice?" Carson asks. Dad hands him an entire 10-pack in response. "Alright then."

 

***

 

An hour later Dad and Penny are gone, Kevin and Lucy are down for a nap, Derek is playing the Switch with Ethan, Emily, and Adam, and Grady is still picking at the pizza on his plate. Stiles is sure the pizza is fairly cold and gross by now, but he doesn't want to take it away and warm it up again in case it makes Grady stop his stride of one bite every two minutes or so. Carson has already finished his pizza and half of the 10-pack of apple juice and is sitting next to Grady while watching him and trying not to look like he's watching. Stiles is sitting on the other side of the kitchen table with some paperwork and also trying to not look like he's watching Grady. Grady seems to be ignoring both of them.

 

Adam suddenly wanders into the kitchen. "Tata, can I have a cookie?"

 

"Do we have any?" Stiles asks, turning to study the cookie jar they keep on the counter and trying to remember the last time he or Derek filled it.

 

"Daddy said we have Oreos," Adam says. Stiles gets up and looks into the cookie jar, which is empty. A search of the junk food cupboard reveals several packs of different flavoured Oreos. Stiles presents the choices and Adam takes the Double Stuff. On his way out of the kitchen, he tosses a few on Grady's plate on top of the pizza, which seems to jolt Grady into complete awareness.

 

"Oreos?" He asks. Carson reaches over and takes one.

 

"Welcome back," Stiles says. Grady shoots him a confused look. "Do you want to talk about the burial?"

 

"Not really," Grady says. He picks up one of the Oreos and pulls it apart. "Not much to say about it."

 

"What about your feelings about the burial?" Stiles asks. "I feel like there might be something to be said about that." Grady's cheeks slowly redden.

 

"Not a whole lot," he mumbles.

 

"Listen," Stiles says. "There's no shame in expressing emotions however you need to. You're going through a rough and confusing time right now. Emotions are gonna run high."

 

"I just... It's stupid," Grady says. "I don't know what to feel right now. I'm angry at her. But I'm also sad that she's gone and never coming back. Not that I thought that she was coming back before anyway. Not that I really wanted her back, I don't think. It's weird."

 

"Yeah," Stiles says. "Have you talked to your father at all?"

 

"I don't want to talk to him," Grady says. "This whole situation with Mom was awful, and it turns out that he just made things even worse. It's like he didn't care about me at all. He cared more about what Mom wanted than what I wanted. Or needed. "

 

"As shitty as that is, I think that might be true," Stiles says.

 

"You're lucky that your dad is an actual good dad," Grady says.

 

"He is pretty awesome," Stiles says. "So what's your next move?"

 

"I am going to bury all of this deep down until I die," Grady says.

 

"That's the spirit," Stiles says. "Also just know that Derek and I have the money to send you to a really good therapist, so think on that one." Grady shoves an entire Oreo into his mouth at once and doesn't respond to that .

 

***

 

Stiles is surprised when Grady seeks him out early Sunday morning.

 

He's become used to waking up to find various children staring at him from his bedside. Though that doesn't have the same effect as when the 'child' at his bedside is 18 and ridiculously tall, so Stiles can't be blamed for being startled.

 

"Sorry," Grady says, once Stiles is done flailing and waking Derek up. "I wanted to do this before I lost my nerve."

 

"To be clear," Stiles says. "By 'this' you don't mean murdering me in my sleep."

 

"Why would I wait for you to wake up first if I was gonna do that?" Grady asks.

 

"Dramatic effect?" Stiles offers.

 

"You're both ridiculous, I hope you know," Derek says, face-down in his pillow. Stiles swats him on the shoulder.

 

"Anyway," Stiles says. "What are you doing?"

 

"I want to live here," Grady says. "Like, officially."

 

"Sure," Stiles says. Grady blinks at him in surprise and is quiet long enough that Derek raises his head to see what's going on.

 

"Sure?" Grady asks. "That's it? It's that easy?"

 

"Of course," Derek says. "Why wouldn't we want you living here? At least when you're here we know you're actually being looked after."

 

"Oh," Grady says. "Cool, cool. So, um, me and Carson are probably gonna go back to Beacon Heights today for the rest of my stuff?"

 

"That's a good idea," Stiles says.

 

"Right," Grady says. "Yes. See you." He whirls around and exits the room, and Stiles can hear hushed voices right outside the bedroom door and moving off down the hall.

 

"Huh," Stiles says, wide awake now.

 

"I knew we should've secretly adopted him years ago," Derek says, letting his face fall back into the pillow.

 

***

 

Grady and Carson must have left right after Grady's conversation with Stiles because neither of them are in the house by the time everyone gathers for breakfast. Grady's car is also gone.

 

"Wow, he's really not wasting any time," Stiles says. "I can't imagine there's too much left at Perry's though." Derek looks up briefly from where he's making pancakes on the stove.

 

"Probably wants to get it over with as soon as possible," Derek says. "And to tell Perry to his face that he's leaving."

 

"I'm sure there's a showdown we're missing right now," Stiles says.

 

"Daddy, I want sprinkles in mine," Ethan says, peering at the stove from under Derek's arm.

 

"I don't want sprinkles!" Adam exclaims from his seat at the table.

 

"Can I have pretzels in mine?" Emily asks.

 

"Ew, that's gross," Ethan says.

 

"It's not for you!" Emily exclaims. Kevin and Lucy shriek happily to add to the noise.

 

"Or he just wanted to skip this insanity," Stiles says, brandishing a banana in the direction of the table. "How about fruit?"

 

"Is sprinkles a fruit?" Ethan asks.

 

***

 

Grady and Carson come back to the house in the early evening, bearing full-looking garbage bags and Logan.

 

"Hello," Logan says, waving as he walks past Stiles and Derek and the kids in the living room.

 

"Logan offered to help with the move," Grady says. "Carson can drive him to school tomorrow."

 

"Carson isn't going to school tomorrow," Stiles says. "Not with the full moon." The three boys pause at the bottom of the stairs.

 

"I thought that was just a night thing," Grady says.

 

"The pull of the full moon is stronger at night when it's fully out," Derek says. "But since it's Carson's first full moon, and he's bitten, the day might be difficult for him too."

 

"Shit," Grady says. "Um... we can drive Logan back tonight, or something."

 

"Well, Logan's welcome to stay the night and hang around for tomorrow," Stiles says. "Might as well get him used to large gatherings of supernatural creatures if he's gonna be in-the-know."

 

"Wait," Logan says, turning to Grady. "Is this the secret monthly parties that Skye was always complaining you never invited her to?"

 

"Yep," Grady answers.

 

"Huh," Logan says. "This means I can't invite Lauren, then."

 

"Exactly," Stiles says. "Maybe someday she'll be able to come, but right now it's strictly limited membership."

 

"Let's hope she deals with it better than Skye ever did," Grady says, turning and heading up the stairs.

 

"Anyway, Logan, if you decide to stay you can take Carson's room for the night," Derek says.

 

"Well where's Carson gonna sleep?" Logan asks. Grady trips on the next step up.

 

***

 

Adam is up at the crack of dawn Monday morning, jumping into Stiles and Derek's bed with a loud cackle.

 

Stiles and Derek are awake in an instant, which Stiles suspects was Adam's plan.

 

"Are we going running?" Adam asks, sitting on Derek's chest and almost nose-to-nose with him.

 

"Not right now we aren't," Derek says. "It's still sleep time."

 

"But it's the _full moon_!" As if they don't know. Derek turns over onto his side, pulling Adam down to the bed so that he's nestled between Stiles and Derek's bodies.

 

"And now it's time for sleep," Derek says. Stiles chuckles when Adam huffs. They manage to get Adam to lie still for about another five minutes, but then he starts kicking at them and Derek ends up taking him downstairs. Stiles soon hears the sound of little footsteps heading down the stairs and knows that Emily and Ethan are up too. He makes himself get up to check on Kevin and Lucy, just in case they're also awake. He meets Carson in the hallway as he's coming out of Grady's room. Carson looks at him with eyes that glow gold on and off.

 

"Grady kicked me out," he mutters.

 

"We humans don't feel the moon's pull and generally don't appreciate being woken up ungodly early by antsy werewolves," Stiles says. Carson makes a face and disappears into the nearest bathroom. When he opens the nursery door, he finds both Lucy and Kevin still asleep. He also finds Lucy in Kevin's crib, which was definitely _not_ where Derek had put her the night before. Stiles sighs and goes downstairs and out to the backyard.

 

Emily, Ethan, and Adam are running around and shrieking happily \- Stiles is so thankful that they don't have any neighbours - with Derek chasing after them and pretending that he's not a hell of a lot faster than all of them.

 

"Tata!" Emily calls, and changes direction to run straight towards him. It's only Stiles' magic that keeps him from being completely bowled over when she hug-tackles him.

 

"Hey, Em," Stiles says. "You're certainly energetic this morning."

 

"Daddy says to get all the energy out before school," Emily informs him.

 

"Daddy is very smart," Stiles says. "Why don't you guys see if you can get Carson to come out and run with you a bit. This is his first full moon as a werewolf so he doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing yet."

 

"Yes!" Emily cheers. She detaches herself from Stiles and runs into the house. Ethan and Adam, having most likely heard the whole exchange, follow her. Derek ambles over to Stiles and drops a kiss on his mouth.

 

"I thought you were going back to sleep," he says.

 

"I wanted to make sure the babies were still asleep," Stiles says.

 

"If they were, they won't be for long," Derek says.

 

"Nope," Stiles says. "But they were asleep when I checked. In the same crib, even." Derek raises his eyebrows at that. "I'm starting to think that she may be part were-monkey."

 

***

 

Grady and Logan stumble downstairs as Derek is getting Ethan and Emily out the door for school. Neither Stiles nor Derek have to worry about the twins' control, they've always been pretty good at keeping their wolfy abilities in check even on full moons. It would probably be easier for them to just take the day off and stay home, but Stiles doesn't want to run the risk of someone noticing the pattern of the both of them being off every time there's a full moon on a weekday. There haven't been any hunters in Beacon Hills in years, but that's a chance Stiles isn't willing to take.

 

Though he might have to revisit that with Adam, who has decent control for his age but doesn't seem too interested in keeping secrets.

 

Adam is currently sitting at the kitchen table with Carson and showing him how he can lower and retract his fangs. Carson himself can't quite manage it today without slipping into a full Beta-shift, which in turn sets Lucy off. Kevin pokes at his own blunt teeth, confused as to why he can't make them do anything.

 

"Lauren thinks I just joined a cult," Logan announces, staring down at his phone as he takes a seat at the table. Grady, wrapped up in his comforter, slumps down into Carson's lap so that Carson looks like he's cuddling a very large, plushy maggot with human feet. His eyes burn gold for a second.

 

"That's hilarious," Stiles says, delighted. "No one's said that about us in years."

 

"What do I tell her?" Logan asks.

 

"You can tell her that we sort of adopted your family in a non-culty way," Stiles says.  "She might buy that."  Logan makes a face, but he starts typing.


	23. Chapter 23

Grady isn't really expecting to hear from Dad after moving out of his childhood home, but it still kind of stings as Monday goes on without any calls or texts from him.

 

He camps out on the living room couch after breakfast, wrapped up in his comforter like a particularly mopey burrito. Everyone else seems content to mostly give him space; as much space as one can get in a common area of a full house, anyway.

 

A full house that is slowly getting fuller.

 

As the Hale pack Alpha, Derek is technically in charge of full moon events. For the Hale pack this means a large dinner and then a moonlight run through the Preserve. The Hale house doubles as the pack house in these instances. Grady has been attending the monthly full moon runs ever since Stiles and Derek told him about the supernatural, so he's used to pack members showing up one after the other over the course of the day.

 

He's usually in a much better mood when it happens, though.

 

The noise level in the house gets louder as more people arrive. Grady lets the noise wash over him, taking comfort in being surrounded by people, even though they aren't really paying him any attention.

 

He manages to doze off at some point, then gets shaken awake some indeterminate amount of time later.

 

"Grady." It's Carson. "Stiles wants you to shower and eat something." Grady peers up at Carson from his blanket cocoon, squinting.

 

"No," he says. Carson sighs and backs off. Grady turns his face away, prepared to go back to sleep, but then he's suddenly lifted by a pair of strong arms. He squawks in surprise, and then is slung over Carson's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

 

"Hey!" Grady exclaims.

 

"Orders from on-high," Carson says.

 

"Uncle Grady's being kidnapped!" Adam announces from somewhere nearby.

 

"Should we do something about it?" A female child asks.

 

"He's going for a bath," Emily says.

 

"Maybe we should save him then," Adam says. Carson chuckles and Grady feels it vibrate through him.

 

"I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of your werewolf powers if you're going to be using them for evil like this," Grady says, once Carson starts carrying him up the stairs.

 

"I'd like to think of it as me doing a service," Carson says. "You really need a shower."

 

"Rude," Grady says. "Are you saying I stink?"

 

"I'm saying I could probably smell you even if I was still human," Carson says.

 

"And the hits just keep coming," Grady mumbles. Carson laughs. Grady looks down and watches the stairs turn into carpet, then the carpet turns into tile as Carson brings him into the bathroom. He sets Grady on the large bathroom counter and goes over to turn on the shower. Grady wrestles his way out of the comforter and lets it drop to the bathroom floor. He instantly feels cold; the sweat on his skin turning clammy.

 

Carson's brought them to the bathroom normally used by the kids, so there are toys and tiny toothbrushes and colourful towels everywhere. There's also a puddle on the floor in between the toilet and the bathtub/shower that Grady doesn't want to look too closely at.

 

"After your shower you're supposed to eat something," Carson says, looking over his shoulder. "Stiles said you don't have to eat downstairs if you don't want to."

 

"Is it lunch time?" Grady asks. He has no idea what time it is right now. He can't remember what it was the last time he checked his phone; he hadn't been concerned about the time then. He's not entirely sure where his phone is right now.

 

"You slept through lunch, but we saved you some," Carson says.

 

"Did my dad call?" Grady asks. "Or anything?"

 

"Not that I know of," Carson says. Still not unexpected, but still a bit of a let-down. Dad had been home yesterday when Grady, Carson, and Logan had gone to pick up his things. Grady hadn't said anything to him at the time because it hurt to be in the house and he'd just wanted to be in and out as fast as possible. He'd still thought that Dad would have something to say to him at some point.

 

The bathroom is starting to fill with steam, the mirror on the wall behind Grady fogging up. Carson looks around and then frowns at the water coming out of the shower head.

 

"Come make sure that this isn't too hot," he says. "Derek mentioned that I might feel heat and cold differently now, and I don't imagine you'd appreciate being scalded." Grady slips off the counter and inches over.

 

"If you're getting the shower ready for me, does that mean you're gonna wash me too?" He asks, maybe only half-sarcastic. Carson turns to him, strangely serious.

 

"I could," he says. Grady opens his mouth to respond; nothing comes out. Carson's gaze doesn't waver, his dark eyes stare into Grady's blue ones, and neither of them move. Grady feels a pang of _something_ low in his belly and he watches Carson's cheeks slowly redden and his eyes start burning gold.

 

***

 

_"So I think I've found out what's gotten up Grady's arse recently," Stiles said. He closed the bedroom door behind himself. Derek looked up from his iPad._

 

_"I take it it's not parent-related then," he said._

 

_"Nope," Stiles said. He climbed into bed and snuggled up to Derek's side. "Surprisingly, I think it might be Carson-related." Derek's eyebrows shot up, which Stiles could understand because Carson was usually the last person who could put Grady in any sort of bad mood._

 

_"Has he… done something?" Derek asked. "I didn't think Carson could do anything that would piss Grady off."_

 

_"He hasn't, technically," Stiles said. "He got himself a boyfriend. Or something. I didn't quite get the whole story, naturally, something to do with valentines."_

 

_"Do they still do that in high school?" Derek asked._

 

_"It's more of a couple thing," Stiles said. "Sometimes it's the beginning of a relationship."_

 

_"So, Carson got asked out for Valentine's Day?" Derek asked. "And Grady is not happy about it?"_

 

_"Oh, he is, according to himself," Stiles said. "But he's miffed because Carson is his best friend and he doesn't think that this guy is good enough for him."_

 

_"What's wrong with him?" Derek asked._

 

_"Grady didn't really have an answer to that," Stiles said. "But I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it's because it's not him."_

 

_"Ah."_

 

***

 

Grady knows he's bi.

 

He's known for years.

 

He's had several girlfriends over the years. Never any boyfriends.

 

The closest he's ever been to being with another guy was once at a random party when he found himself dancing _quite close_ to another boy in someone's dark crowded living room. It was years ago, now, and he can't remember who the boy was, but he does remember the confusing wave of fear that crashed over him when the boy asked if he wanted to go upstairs.

 

Grady had run away then.

 

He doesn't run away now.

 

But Carson still leaves the bathroom and Grady showers alone.

 

It doesn't feel like anything has been ruined, though.

 

***

 

Dad ends up calling in the middle of dinner later that evening. Which, being a pack dinner on a full moon night, is so loud and rowdy that the phone call almost goes unnoticed.

 

"I hear music!" Adam announces suddenly from where he's sitting next to Grady at the table. The din quiets down enough for Grady to hear and recognize the ringtone he'd set for his father's calls. He's out of his chair in a second and pulling his phone from his pocket to answer the call. He moves out to the front porch for the illusion of privacy, even though it's more than likely that most of the werewolves inside will still be able to hear.

 

Grady presses the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

 

"Grady," Dad says. "How are you?"

 

And isn't that the question?

 

"I'm okay," Grady says. "What's up?"

 

"Um, just wondering when you'll be back," Dad says.

 

"Dad," Grady says. "I'm not going back. That's why I moved my stuff out yesterday. You know this, you were there." There's a pause.

 

"I just thought you were grabbing more stuff for the week," Dad finally says. "I didn't think… You never just left before." Grady hates the way he says it. _Just left_. Like Grady just up and decided to move out on a whim. Or maybe it seems that way to his father, instead of the way it feels to Grady, like he's been slowly transitioning to living in the Hale house. Transitioning so slowly that it's taken years and his father apparently never noticed.

 

"I think it was time to go," Grady says. "Everything that's happened the past few days… Maybe everything leading up to it… I need to be somewhere safe where I know there are people who care about me."

 

"And… And you don’t think you have that here? With me?" Dad asks.

 

"No," Grady says. And there's suddenly a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes because this isn't fair. In a perfect world, his father would be the person he'd be turning to at a time like this. He's just lost his mother, by all rights he should be clinging to his only remaining parent.

 

In a perfect world, though, his mother wouldn't have been gone for the past six years and his father wouldn't have been half-checked out for the same amount of time. Though, if Grady really thinks about it, he's pretty sure things were falling apart at home long before then.

 

Dad is saying something, but Grady has lowered the phone and is trying to keep his breathing even and his eyes from spilling over with tears.

 

The door suddenly opening shocks a sob out of him and he drops his phone as he turns around. Stiles is rushing over to him and enveloping him in a tight hug before he has much time to react. And suddenly Grady is sobbing into Stiles' shoulder and gripping at his shirt with tight fists. Some distant part of his brain feels a bit embarrassed that nearly everyone inside can probably hear this. The rest of his brain seems to have mostly shut down and is too busy feeling sorry for himself, but also thankful that he has people who he can turn to for comfort.

 

The door slams open and Grady looks up through tear-filled eyes to see Carson standing in the doorway, wolfed-out and growling. He's soon pulled back into the house, though, and the door closes again. Grady wipes his face on Stiles' shirt and tries to get himself together. The sobs taper off, but the tears don't stop.

 

"Th-his is so sss-tupid," Grady heaves out. "I d-hon't even know what the pro-hoblem is."

 

"Emotions are a bitch," Stiles says. "You get used to them. I was a mess after the last time I actually had a significant meeting with Claudia. Ask Derek, he had to deal with me being a weepy mess for days. I'd be embarrassed about it, but my therapist told me it was a healthy emotional expression." Grady coughs wetly and knuckles at his eyes.

 

"I feel like I'm ruining the whole night," he says.

 

"Nah," Stiles says. "You're fine. We have time for emotional breakdowns around here." There are scuffling sounds coming from behind the closed front door, along with some growling noises and indistinct voices. Grady and Stiles untangle themselves and Stiles gets up with one last pat to Grady's shoulder. "Come on in and finish eating."

 

"I'm not really that hungry," Grady says, grabbing his phone from where he'd dropped it and getting up.

 

"I hear ya," Stiles says. "But I know you've barely eaten anything all day. So just humour me a little."

 

"I make no promises," Grady says. Stiles lets him enter the house first, which is just as well because Carson is on him as soon as he walks through the door. Grady hears Stiles chuckle as he slides past them to get to the kitchen. Grady submits to a pat-down, which ends with Carson wiping at his damp cheeks with his fingers.

 

"I'm fine," Grady says. Carson doesn't look convinced, even with his eyebrows missing. "Maybe put the wolf face away for now? There's nothing for you to maul that'll make me feel better."  It takes a minute, but Carson is able to let the shift slide away. He frowns at Grady.

 

"That was your dad on the phone," he says.

 

"Can you do me a favour and pretend that you didn't hear any of that?" Grady asks. Carson swipes a thumb across Grady's cheek, because his hands are apparently still on Grady's face. "Ignore that too, please." Carson doesn't say anything.

 

No one pays any attention when they finally get back to the kitchen and retake their seats at the table. Grady's plate is still pretty much as full as it was when he'd first gotten it, only a few bites taken out. Full moon pack dinners are fairly elaborate affairs with a variety of foods prepared by mostly everyone in the pack. Most times, Grady makes it a point to try a bit of everything on offer. Tonight, he can't make himself finish the little he'd bothered to put on his plate. He nibbles on a piece of chicken and looks around the crowded room.

 

The kitchen is big, but the table isn't big enough to seat everyone comfortably. Some of the adults are leaning against counters or sitting on the floor with the children who decided that 'picnic eating' was more fun than sitting at the table. There's a party-like atmosphere and everyone seems content and is getting along well with each other. Even Logan, his mother, and Carson's parents, who are all newcomers to these events, are fitting right in and having a good time.

 

Grady finally pushes his plate away when Derek gives the signal to start bringing out the desserts.

 

"You didn't eat much," Carson says.

 

"Nope," Grady says. He hands his still mostly full plate off to someone and starts getting up from the table. Carson grabs him by the shirt and yanks him back down.

 

"My father made lemon poppyseed muffins," Carson says. Grady settles back in his chair. He loves lemon poppyseed muffins, especially when Carson's father makes them. It's something he'll eat even when he's not hungry. He figures he could handle at least one right now.

 

***

 

Once dinner and dessert are over and done with, it's time for the actual main event of the evening: running under the full moon. As much as Grady would rather find a dark place to curl up in for a little while, he follows everyone out to the backyard. The human children are starting to flag a little at the late hour, but the supernatural children seem wired as they run and shriek around the spacious yard.

 

Grady takes a seat on the grass out of the way and looks up into the clear sky. It's a clear night and, although it's cooler than Grady would prefer, it's not unbearable. It's a great night for a run.

 

Carson suddenly drops down on the grass beside him, to Grady's surprise. Everyone else is getting ready to go, shifting or stripping as needed.

 

"Aren't you getting ready to run?" Grady asks. This is Carson's first ever run as a wolf. He and Grady have been on runs before as humans, but it's totally different for the wolves who can run faster for longer and actually feel the moon's pull in their blood. If anything, Carson should be raring to go.

 

"I thought I'd sit it out," Carson says.

 

"Dude, you can't," Grady says. "It's your first full moon as a werewolf. You should run. I know you want to."

 

"But," Carson says.

 

"Go," Grady says. "You'll feel more settled once you do."

 

"He's right." Grady and Carson both start in surprise when Derek speaks, crouching down next to them. "It's better to get some of the energy out in the run. Your control has been amazing so far, but I'd rather not push things. Grady will still be here when you get back." It takes some more convincing, but Carson finally gets up and leaves with Derek, turning to look back a few times until he finally disappears among the trees. As soon as he's out of sight, Grady gets to his feet. Stiles is next to him in a second.

 

"You're not going with them?" He asks. He's holding Kevin, who is completely passed out against his shoulder.

 

"Nah," Grady says. "I think I've had enough excitement for the night. And I'm going back to school tomorrow. I think I'm just gonna turn in early."

 

"Alright," Stiles says. "I'll be sticking around here tonight. Come find me if you need anything." Grady won't, but he agrees anyway before going back into the house. He crosses through the now-empty kitchen, down the hall, up the stairs, and into his bedroom. He closes the door behind himself but doesn't turn on the light, feeling his way to the bed, where he curls up against the wall and cries into his pillow.

 

***

 

_"Do you think she'll come back if I ask her directly?"_

 

_Stiles squeezed his eyes and mouth shut because the only answer he had was one Grady wouldn't want to hear._

 

***

 

Grady doesn't remember falling asleep, but he snaps awake at the feel of the bed jostling as someone climbs in.

 

"Wha-?" He asks, confused and half-asleep. The room is still dark, no light at all coming in around the edges of the curtains.

 

"It's me," Carson says. He curls around Grady, plastering himself to Grady's back, and winds his arms around Grady's chest.

 

"Aren't you supposed to be running?" Grady asks.

 

"I ran enough," Carson says. He brings a hand up to press against Grady's cheek, which is sticky and damp. "I'd rather be up here with you right now."

 

"I won't be very entertaining company tonight," Grady says.

 

"I'm not looking to be entertained," Carson says.

 

***

 

Grady doesn't want to go back to school in the morning, but he dutifully gets up when his alarm goes off.

 

He only doesn't skip breakfast because Stiles produces a lemon poppyseed muffin left over from the night before. He lets Carson drive the car to school, and Lauren is waiting for them in the parking lot when he, Carson, and Logan arrive.

 

"Hey!" Logan says, exiting the car with a wave. "Told you it was perfectly safe."

 

"I still think it sounds sketch," Lauren says. "No offence, Grady." Grady grunts. He sees Logan and Lauren share a look out of the corner of his eye and scowls.

 

"It's fine," he grouses. It really is. He knows that most things to do with the pack look weird from the outside, especially to people who are completely unaware. But he's in a mood this morning, so everything kind of sucks.

 

"Come on," Carson says suddenly, and starts leading Grady away by the hand. "We should go see what we missed last week." The further Grady gets into the school building, the worse he feels. Maybe he should've just stayed home, put off re-entering the real world for one more day. Carson himself looks a bit twitchy, probably because he's picking up on Grady's irritation. Which makes Grady feel bad, but he can't exactly stop it. Luckily he doesn't feel particularly destructive. Or weepy.

 

They're walking down the hallway and Carson suddenly stops, which also stops Grady because they're still holding hands. Which, now that Grady thinks about it, should probably feel weird. But, then again, Carson has been sleeping in his bed for the past couple of weeks, so maybe the hand holding is just a thing they're going to do now. Grady frowns down at their clasped hands.

 

"Grady?" Grady's head snaps up to see Skye walking towards them. He peeks at Carson, who looks annoyed. A look back at Skye tells Grady that she also seems a bit annoyed. He watches her look down at their hands, then back up, a frown on her face. He wasn't expecting to have to deal with her first thing this morning, or ever again since she's been ignoring him since he broke up with her, so he's not sure what to do here. "You two certainly didn't waste any time."

 

"What?" Grady asks. Skye nods at his and Carson's hands. Grady squeezes Carson's hand, Carson squeezes back, neither of them let go. "Right. What do you want, Skye?"

 

"How long has this been going on?" Skye asks, gesturing with one hand.

 

"What. Do. You. Want," Grady grinds out.

 

"I _wanted_ to tell you how sorry I was about your mother," Skye snaps. "But now I can clearly see that you didn't need any of _my_ sympathies." Grady feels a headache coming on.

 

"No, no I didn't," Grady says. "And I still don't. Goodbye." He whirls around and marches down the hall, towing Carson along behind him.

 

"Grady!" Skye calls after them. She doesn't follow, thankfully, so Grady doesn't actually have to try and lose her. He just keeps walking until he reaches an empty hallway, then he stops because he's not sure what to do next. The bell rings, but Grady doesn't want to go to class. Carson is quiet next to him, still holding his hand.

 

"What was that about?" Grady asks.

 

"I think she thinks we're dating," Carson says.

 

"What? We're not dating!" Grady says. "Are we dating?" They both look down at their hands.

 

"Um..." Carson says. "I don't think so. Did you... want to be dating?"

 

"I don't know!" Grady exclaims.

 

***

 

_Grady imagined kissing Carson._

 

_He imagined them both dancing together in a crowded gym among their classmates, arms around each other and staring into each other's eyes._

 

_He imagined them goofing around in the hallway between classes, holding hands as naturally as if they'd been doing it all along._

 

_He imagined them eating dinner together with Derek and Stiles and being teased on how cute they were together._

 

_He remembered his mother's face when he told her that maybe he'd be like Stiles and marry a boy someday, because sometimes he liked boys the way he liked girls._

 

_He asked out Leah Vasquez._

 

***

 

"I want to ask you out," Carson says. Grady can hear the blood rushing in his ears, making the empty hallway sound full.

 

"Why?" Grady asks.

 

"Because I like you," Carson says. He pauses. "A lot. In a way that a best friend probably shouldn't like a best friend."

 

"Since when!?"

 

"I don't know. A while I guess," Carson says. "But you never seemed like you were really interested in me. Or guys at all, I guess, since you always dated girls. So I always just ignored it. But then I got turned and now I can, like, sense things. And smell them. You were still there, still you, but just _more_ somehow."

 

"I don't-"

 

"And then all this shit has been happening lately and your emotions have been all over the place and all I wanted to do was fix things for you! And I couldn't! But I could be there for you and you were letting me _hold you_ and just _be there_ and, like, I feel like that's not things friends really do. Like, I don't want to do that stuff with Logan whenever he feels bad!" Grady is speechless, mouth open in surprise. There's a faint gold glow around Carson's irises and Grady can't make himself look away.

 

"Carson-"

 

"Also I feel like I should tell you that I can smell, um, sexual interest," Carson says. "Which, um, doesn't exactly _help_ any." Grady thinks back to their moment in the bathroom last night and feels his cheeks heat.

 

He has a fleeting memory of a shiny piece of cardstock with Carson's name scratched out. There and gone in a second.

 

Carson is talking again, but he stops suddenly when Grady pulls him in by his shirt collar and kisses him.

 

***

 

"Y'know, I thought we were done with the whole hiding out in bathrooms thing," Logan says.

 

"Shut up!" Grady hisses, listening to his phone ring in his ear.

 

"Lauren says that Carson is looking very pitiful out there," Logan says, looking down at his own phone.

 

"What happened?" Stiles _finally_ answers the call, sounding frantic.

 

"Help me! I kissed Carson!" Grady exclaims. There's silence over the line.

 

"Is that bad?" Stiles asks.

 

"I don't know!" Grady cries. "Is it?"

 

"Grady, if you want to kiss Carson, and if Carson wants you to kiss him, there's nothing wrong with that," Stiles says.

 

"It can't be that easy," Grady says.

 

"It literally is," Stiles says. "Look, whatever anyone told you, you can be with whoever you want. That includes Carson."

 

"Stiles," Grady says.

 

"Of course, if you're gonna be with Carson now we might have to put down some ground rules about him sleeping in your room." Grady ends the call, face burning.

 

***

 

_"Wow, Mommy and Daddy never let me do this at home," Grady said._

 

_"Well, we don't live by their rules here," Stiles said._

 

***

 

Grady marches into the Hale house that afternoon with his head held high and Carson's hand in his.


	24. Chapter 24

*****five years later*****

 

 

It's an otherwise normal Saturday morning. Both Grady and Carson have the day off, and their biggest concern at the moment is keeping their brand-new puppy from pissing on the carpet.

 

Then the dog pads over to sit on Grady's foot and promptly turns into a human infant.

 

Saying that the two of them freak out is a bit of an understatement.

 

***

 

_Sometimes Perry felt like he hated Stiles and Derek for taking his son from him. Sometimes he was grateful for them being there for Grady when he wasn't._

_Either way, they would never be friends._

_"Oh, you actually came." Perry looked around the high school lobby and found Stiles standing off to one side, talking with a man Perry was sure was one of Grady's teachers. Maybe. Perry bristled at Stiles' tone._

_"Of course I came," he said. "You think I'd miss my own son's graduation?"_

_"Yes," Stiles said without hesitation. He stared coolly at Perry through Claudia's big, brown eyes, and Perry had to look away._

_"Well, I'm here," he said. "Where's Grady?"_

_"Getting ready with his class," Stiles said. "You're cutting it pretty close here, the ceremony's gonna start soon."_

_"I got here as soon as I could," Perry said, sounding extremely defensive even to his own ears. The look Stiles gave him made him grind his teeth to keep from swearing at him._

_"Uh huh," was all Stiles had to say to that._

 

***

 

Grady and Carson don't live at the Hale house anymore. Instead, they have their own little house on the edge of town close to the Preserve. Close enough to the Hale house that it doesn't take Stiles and Derek long to get there after Grady's panicked phone call.

 

The face Stiles makes when Grady opens the door and shoves a baby at him would be hilarious in any other circumstance.

 

"Fix it!" Grady shrills.

 

"What am I supposed to do!?" Stiles exclaims.

 

"Everyone back inside," Derek says, coming up behind Stiles. "Standing around and freaking out isn't gonna solve anything." He ushers Stiles, Grady, and the baby, who is now fussing, back into the house. Carson is standing in the middle of the living room, pacing in a circle and looking down at his phone.

 

"I don't know if I should call my parents or not," he says.

 

"Let's figure out what's going on first," Derek says. "Who wants to explain?"

 

"We adopted a new puppy and this morning he turned into that!" Grady says, gesturing with the baby.

 

"Well, that's not a puppy," Stiles says.

 

"No shit!" Grady exclaims.

 

"Seriously, should I call someone?" Carson asks. "And can we get a diaper or something? The naked baby is making me nervous." Stiles and Grady both turn suspicious looks on the baby in Grady's arms. The baby is shivering and whimpering, and starting to get a little pointy around the ears.

 

"Oh for... Give him here," Stiles says. Grady immediately hands the baby over. Stiles' hold on the baby is practised and more sure than Grady's, which would make sense since Stiles does have five children.

 

"Now what?" Grady asks.

 

"Get me a blanket to wrap him in," Stiles says. "Then tell us everything you know about where you got him."

 

***

 

_"I didn't know your dad was so hot, Grady." Grady looked up from his drink at one of Carson's college friends. Hannah, from his study group. Carson, sitting next to Grady in the booth, raised an eyebrow in confusion. Carson and Grady shared a look._

_"Thanks?" Grady said. "When did you meet my dad?" Perry had moved away from Beacon Heights not long after Grady graduated high school and made it clear that he wasn't leaving the Hale house. He'd been living in San Francisco since then, wanting to be closer to his family. He couldn't think of any way for one of Carson's school friends to run into him anywhere or even know who he was._

_"I saw a picture of him on Carson's Facebook page," Hannah said. "He looks almost exactly like you."_

_"Carson's Facebook page," Grady said. Perry and Carson weren't friends on Facebook. Hell, Perry and_ Grady _weren't friends on Facebook. And neither of them had any pictures of him anywhere on Facebook. And Grady mostly got his looks from Claudia, he didn't look much like Perry. Which only meant one thing._

_"He's married," Grady said. He stole one of Carson's fries and pulled out his phone._

_"Aw," Hannah said. "Shame." Grady smirked, Carson rolled his eyes at him._

**_To: Stiles_ **

_carsons friend thinks ur hot_

**_From: Stiles_ **

_Still got it :P_

_Grady showed the phone screen to Carson, who burst out laughing._

 

***

 

Grady volunteers to drive with Derek to the small pet store just outside Beacon County where they'd adopted the puppy a few days earlier.

 

"I thought he looked suspiciously wolfy," Grady says, leaning his head against the passenger side window. "Honestly, that's why we chose him."

 

"Did you think he was actually a wolf, or a shifter, or..." Derek says.

 

"Definitely not," Grady says. "I just thought he was a hybrid or something. Though I guess that would explain why Carson was so insistent when we went to see him in person. Originally he wanted a golden lab puppy, but he changed his mind as soon as we got there."

 

"He probably sensed it was actually a werewolf and just didn't realize," Derek says. "We'll need to work more on that. How did you find the pet shop?"

 

"Facebook," Grady says. "One of Carson's friends' friend's aunt, or something. It specializes in puppies."

 

"Hm," Derek says.

 

"Do you think there might be more baby werewolves there?" Grady asks.

 

"I'm not sure, it could be a one-off," Derek says. "But a pet shop is a very strange place for a werewolf pup to end up. Especially one that can already do a full shift."

 

"We were told that he wasn't part of a litter," Grady says. "There was just him."

 

"Either way," Derek says, "you and Carson should probably think of a better name than Digger. One that won't raise as many eyebrows on a school report card." Grady sputters out a non-answer and proceeds to fret over his life for the next 45 minutes.

 

***

 

_"Not that I don't like living here or anything," Carson said into Grady's shoulder, "but do you ever think about getting our own place?"_

_"I've thought about it," Grady said. He turned over onto his back and let Carson cuddle in closer, face shoved into his favourite spot between Grady's shoulder and neck (a werewolf thing, according to Stiles). "Did you have something in mind?"_

_"Not really," Carson said. "Just... putting it out there. We could get a small house or something. A dog." There was a series of hard knocks on the bedroom door._

_"No one to interrupt during private sexytimes?" Grady asked. Carson laughed._

_"Are you guys being gross in there?" Adam called through the door. "Tata wants to know if you guys want to watch a movie with us."_

 

***

 

The little pet shop is called 'Puppy Playground' and looks exactly the same as it had the day Grady and Carson had gone there to pick up Digger. Which had just been a few days ago, so there's no reason why it should look any different.

 

Except that they had gone in for a puppy and had ended up with a _werewolf baby_ , so Grady can't help but imagine a sinister air about the place as he and Derek walk in.

 

Grady doesn't recognize the teenage boy manning the front desk, but the boy pales when he spots Grady. That certainly grabs Derek's interest, and he leads the way over to the front desk. The boy backs up a few steps as they approach.

 

"I'd like to speak to whoever's in charge, please," Derek says.

 

"Um..." The boy says. "Just a minute?" He scurries away through a door behind the desk that Grady figures leads to some back offices. Grady slants a look over at Derek.

 

"Wow, and you didn't even use the murder-brows on him," he says. Derek rolls his eyes but doesn't get a chance to answer as the door behind the desk opens again and a woman walks out, the teenage boy following meekly behind her.

 

"Hi there," she says, smiling widely at Grady and Derek. "How can I help you gentlemen?" Grady and Derek share a look, and Derek raises his eyebrows in a way that Grady takes to mean 'go on'.

 

"Um," Grady says. "I was here before with my boyfriend to adopt a puppy? We, um, have an... issue, with it." The teenage boy is visibly nervous now, while the woman just seems confused.

 

"What sort of issue?" She asks. Grady opens his mouth and then shuts it again. He's not sure what to do here. A look to Derek doesn't get him much help, Derek seems equally unsure. Though, the way he's eyeing the boy makes Grady think that he's figured something out about the whole situation.

 

"He's, um," Grady says. He stalls. There are very few people in Grady's life that he can just tell 'my puppy suddenly turned into a human' without worrying about ending up committed somewhere, this woman is not one of those people. "He's not what we were expecting. I just had some questions about... the whole situation."

 

"I don't understand," the woman says. "Are you saying you think you got the wrong kind of dog?"

 

"No, no," Grady says. "We got the right dog. We just had some questions about his care. It seems like he might need... special care?" The woman gives him a stern look over her glasses.

 

"If you're unable to care for your new dog," she says.

 

"No!" Grady exclaims, cutting her off. "No. We can definitely care for the dog. We definitely want to care for the dog. We were just wondering if you had any more information about his… pedigree?"

 

"Pedigree?" the woman asks.

 

"This guy's worried that it's actually a wolf," Grady says, thinking fast and pointing at Derek. "The dog looks kinda wolfy, and Derek here is worried that it'll try to eat his kids when it gets bigger, y'know? So any information you have on him would be greatly reassuring." The woman levels Grady with a long look and Grady smiles and tries to look as normal and trustworthy as possible.

 

"I'll check the records," the woman says, finally. "Just give me a minute." She gives Grady one last searching look before turning and heading through the door she'd come out of earlier, leaving the teenager alone behind the counter. As soon as the door is shut again, Grady leans over the desk and jabs a finger at the boy.

 

"You know something," he says. "Spill."

 

***

 

**_From: Olivia_ **

_What's this about??_

_There was a photo attached to the text message and Perry arched an eyebrow in confusion. Olivia rarely sent him any photos over text, usually she just tagged him in posts on Facebook. Perry frowned; he hoped this wasn't a virus._

_He opened the text message and the photo popped up big enough for Perry to see what it was._

_It was Grady, who Perry hadn't seen or heard from much recently. Perry knew that Grady had gone away with Carson when Carson transferred to a university near Sacramento, but he'd learned about that after the fact from Olivia. Perry never learned anything from Grady directly, their relationship was pretty strained. At this point, Perry wasn't even sure if it would be worth it to try to fix things. Aunt Yvonne tried to convince him otherwise whenever he brought it up, but Perry was sure that the writing was on the wall._

_Perry studied the picture closely. Grady looked happy in it, smiling wide at the camera with his arm around Carson's shoulders. Perry could see a lot of rainbow flags in the background, and even more people. He assumed this picture was from some sort of gay pride thing. Though he wasn't sure why that would warrant its own text from Olivia, Perry had pretty much figured that Grady was gay when he started dating Carson._

**_To: Olivia_ **

_He looks like he's having a good time._

**_From: Olivia_ **

_What about his shirt?_

_Perry pulled up the picture again and looked at the shirt Grady was wearing. It was a black t-shirt with 'Proud son of LGBTQ+ parents' written on it in rainbow letters. Perry ground his teeth together and closed the picture._

**_To: Olivia_ **

_Ignore it its nothing to do with me_

 

***

 

The boy leads Derek and Grady out into the parking lot, looking twitchy and nervous the whole time. They convene behind Derek's mini-van, somewhat out of view of the shop's front windows.

 

"Talk," Grady says as soon as they stop walking. "Tell us what you know."

 

"I don't know everything," the boy says. "I just did what I was told."

 

"Were you even here when I came to pick up the dog before?" Grady asks. "I don't remember you."

 

"I was in the back," the boy says. "My cousin was the one you dealt with. He's the one who told me to send the dog with you."

 

"Okay," Derek breaks in. "Let's start talking specifics here. Who are you, who is your cousin, how did you both manage to get a full-shift werewolf infant?" The boy jerks in surprise, but doesn't immediately call Derek crazy and run away screaming.

 

"My name is Oliver, my cousin is Jerome," the boy says. "We're both human. Jerome's roommate in college was a guy in a pack near Sacramento. This guy got a girl from a completely different pack pregnant and neither of them wanted the baby. They knew Jerome worked in a pet shop so I guess once they realized the kid could do a full shift they came up with the plan to smuggle him out to a different family through the shop. I don't know why, they didn't say."

 

"Wait, wait," Grady says. "So these people all figured that it would be better to drop this kid into an unsuspecting family than to try going through any official relocation channels?"

 

"No!" Oliver exclaims. "Not a random family. Just... Jerome didn't want to do it, and we were just hiding the kid out at his place and then your boyfriend put in an application to adopt one of the puppies at the shop."

 

"Do you know Carson?" Grady asks.

 

"Not in person," Oliver says. "But Jerome's friend knew a guy in college in Sacramento named Carson Azuma who had connections to a supernatural relocation program thing, and we figured that there couldn't be more than one guy in California with that name. If we sent the kid home with you guys, you could get him into the program and have him relocated, or whatever it is you guys do, and then we wouldn't have to be involved at all."

 

"You couldn't have just got ahold of us and done all this upfront?" Grady asks. "I'm pretty sure there's contact information out there somewhere if you know where to look. Or one of you could've just explained it when we picked the kid up."

 

"We panicked," Oliver says, looking like he's still panicking.

 

"So, just to be clear," Derek says, "this shop isn't a front for a secret werewolf baby selling ring, right?"

 

"No!" Oliver exclaims. "It was just the one baby we needed to find an actual home for. That's all. This was the only way we could figure out how to do it."

 

Grady frowns. After working with Stiles in the business for a few years, Grady understands the need for secrecy, but maybe that's something he'll need to mention to Stiles to work on if other supernatural creatures in crisis can't figure out how to access their services. But that's something that can wait until later.

 

"Okay, so we've established that this isn't a pup that was kidnapped from anyone and sold on the black market," Derek says.

 

"Is that even a thing?" Oliver asks.

 

"Sadly," Grady says. Stiles' group has come across something like that more than once since they started the relocation business, and Grady's sure they'll see it again in the future. "So now what do we do?"

 

"Now we find him a placement, I guess," Derek says. "I assume no one will be looking for him?"

 

"No," Oliver says.

 

"Right. So he's officially our responsibility now," Derek says. "You can tell your cousin that the baby's safe with us. And if he wants to pass that on to his friend, he's free to do so." Oliver nods. With the whole conversation clearly over, he turns and heads back into the shop. Derek and Grady share a look.

 

"As far as crises go," Grady says, "I feel like this wrapped up quite nicely."

 

"Except for the part where there's still a baby at your house," Derek says.

 

"Shit."

 

***

 

_Grady hadn't been expecting to run into Perry in the Beacon Heights Walmart._

_Grady turned into one of the kitchenware aisles and found Perry studying a set of wooden spoons. They both froze when they noticed each other._

_"Hi," Grady said, cautiously._

_"Hi," Perry said._

_It was awkward. Neither of them had seen the other in years, which was a sad state of affairs but it was what it was. Perry had a quick glance in Grady's cart, which was mostly filled with bedding and junk food._

_"I thought you were still up in Sacramento," Perry said._

_"Nah," Grady said. "We moved back last year after Carson graduated. We're back in Beacon Hills now. I thought you were still out in San Francisco."_

_"I am," Perry said. "I'm on my way down South, just passing through here."_

_"Cool," Grady said._

_It didn't get any less awkward._

_"Anyway, I better get moving," Grady said. "I have a whole list to get through." He waved his phone in Perry's direction and started to maneuver his cart past him._

_"Right," Perry said. "See you around?" Grady waved a hand over his shoulder and didn't turn look back._

 

***

 

The house is full of people when Grady and Derek get back.

 

"They all just showed up," Carson says, letting them in. "Stiles sent out the text and they all just... converged."

 

"We brought gifts," Logan pipes up, suddenly appearing at Carson's side. "Don't make us sound like vultures, dude."

 

"What?" Grady asks.

 

"Hand-me-downs," Carson says.

 

"What?" Grady asks again.

 

"Where's-" Carson starts, looking around. Stiles suddenly appears with the baby, Digger, who is now decked out in a tiny blue sleepsuit.

 

"We needed diapers," Stiles says. "And everyone else took it to mean that we needed that plus everything else."

 

"What?" Grady asks.

 

"Okay, this way," Carson says. He takes Grady's hand and leads him through the front of the house, past about half the pack, and into their bedroom in the back. Closing the door behind them does a little to block out the noise from all the people in their living room and kitchen, but Grady can still hear someone - Kevin, he's pretty sure - yelling about wanting to hold the baby.

 

"So what did you find out?" Carson asks.

 

"What?" Grady asks, turning to him.

 

"Seriously, did you break?" Carson asks. "What did you and Derek find out at the pet shop?"

 

"Oh," Grady says. "Someone's cousin's friend suddenly had a kid they needed to get rid of so he tried to do it by way of adopting him out as a dog. Someone at the pet shop recognized your name from college, or something, when you filled out the form and figured we were obviously in-the-know so sent the kid home with us."

 

"That's… I'm not sure what to do with that," Carson says.

 

"Same," Grady says.

 

"So, what do we do now?" Carson asks.

 

"Welp," Grady says, switching somewhat into work mode. "We'll need to get the kid proper papers, birth certificate and the like. Get him checked out to make sure he's really okay and healthy. Then figure out a placement for him."

 

"He's not staying here?" Carson asks.

 

"Uh," Grady says. His mind completely blanks for a second. Somehow he didn't think of this. "Do you want him to stay here?"

 

"Yeah… Yes," Carson says. "I think so. I mean, I spent a whole hour earlier mentally trying to decorate the spare bedroom into a nursery. Did you not want him to stay here?"

 

"I honestly didn't think about it," Grady says. "Didn't we originally adopt a dog because we said we weren't ready for kids yet?"

 

"Well, yeah," Carson says. "But we kind of already have the kid anyway. Also I think we may have bonded with him. Stiles said that that might be why he finally turned back into a human; he trusts us." There's a sudden knock on the bedroom door and then Stiles opens it without waiting for an answer.

 

"Sorry to interrupt," he says. He holds out Digger, who is in his wolf form again. The image of a tiny wolf pup wearing a sleeper is an adorable one, but the sight of it turning back into a baby as soon as he's put in Carson's arms makes Grady's heart full. "I think he missed you guys."

 

"We just adopted a baby, didn't we?" Grady asks no one in particular.

 

"If it makes you feel any better," Stiles says, patting Grady on the shoulder. "That's how we ended up with Lucy and Kevin. No regrets there, for the record."

 

***

 

The house eventually empties after a while, until Stiles and Derek are the only ones left.

 

It still hasn't quite sunk in yet that Grady is now a father, though he's quickly warming up to the idea of having a son instead of a puppy. Carson and Derek are in the back spare bedroom moving furniture around. Stiles and Grady are in the living room, the baby a warm and solid weight in Grady's arms.

 

"This is all very surreal," Grady says.

 

"It'll feel that way for a little while," Stiles says. "And then one day you'll wake up and wonder what you ever did before he came along."

 

"Didn't think you'd be a grandpa this soon, did you?" Grady asks, and laughs when Stiles groans.

 

"I can already feel the old age creeping in," Stiles says dramatically. "Now I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and find a grey hair." The baby suddenly starts whimpering in Grady's arms. Grady starts in a mild panic.

 

"Oh no," he says.

 

"Relax," Stiles says. "You got this, he's either hungry or wet. Or both."

 

"How do I tell?" Grady asks. Carson suddenly appears from the back rooms, possibly drawn over by the baby's distress.

 

"Check the diaper, then go from there," Stiles says. Grady nods and carefully rises to his feet.

 

"We can use the extra desk as a change table for now," Carson says, motioning Grady forward. Grady follows him with the baby, still not entirely sure what he's doing but he guesses there's no time like the present to learn.

 

***

 

A week later, Daniel Azuma is officially and legally Grady and Carson's son.

 

There's a party that night, at the Hale house so that the whole pack has the chance to attend and celebrate. At some point during the festivities, after the meal but before the obnoxiously large cake that Peter had shown up with, Grady takes Daniel upstairs for a diaper change.

 

He's changing the baby on his old bed, smiling at Daniel's waving arms and attempts at baby babble, when he suddenly thinks of his father.

 

He hadn't been joking that day, when he'd referred to Stiles as being Daniel's grandfather. He knows that Stiles is his brother, but Grady's always considered him and Derek more like his fathers than his own father ever was (even though no one's ever really come out and said it, it doesn’t make it any less true). Daniel will grow up with three grandfathers (Stiles, Derek, and Carson's father), and it's very likely that no one in the pack will be at all confused about it.

 

But he thinks of Perry, who was there when he was born, and probably changed his own diaper just like Grady is now changing Daniel's. He wonders what his father felt then, and how those feelings changed and warped into whatever feelings he had later when he was more concerned with his wife's nonsense than his son's well-being.

 

Grady pulls out his phone and snaps a quick picture of Daniel. He sends it to Dad before he can think twice about it.

 

It probably won't be enough to repair their disaster of a relationship, but maybe Dad will be a bit content to know that Grady is happily living his life surrounded by people who love him.

 

He finishes cleaning up and picks Daniel up, giving him a quick kiss on his head as he carries him back downstairs to join their family.

 

-END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaand DONE :D
> 
> Thanks everyone who liked this fic enough to stick with it to the end and left comments and kudos :D :D


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